Yam Island
Native name: Yama; Iama Nickname: Turtle-backed Island | |
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Landsat image of Yam Island | |
A map of the Torres Strait Islands showing Yam Island in the central waters of Torres Strait | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Tancred Passage, Northern Australia |
| Coordinates | 9°54′05″S 142°46′30″E / 9.9014°S 142.7750°E |
| Archipelago | Bourke Isles group, Torres Strait Islands |
| Adjacent to | Torres Strait |
| Total islands | 1 |
| Area | 2 km2 (0.77 sq mi) |
| Administration | |
Australia | |
| State | Queensland |
| Local government area | Torres Strait Island Region |
| Demographics | |
| Ethnic groups | Torres Strait Islanders |
Yam Island | |||||||||||||
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Yam Island | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates: 9°54′04″S 142°46′27″E / 9.9011°S 142.7741°E | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | Queensland | ||||||||||||
| LGA | |||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 1.9 km2 (0.73 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 275 (SAL 2021) | ||||||||||||
| Time zone | UTC+10:00 (AEST) | ||||||||||||
| Postcode | 4875 | ||||||||||||
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Yam Island, called Yama or Iama in the Kulkalgau Ya language or Turtle-backed Island in English, is an island of the Bourke Isles group of the Torres Strait Islands, located in the Tancred Passage of the Torres Strait in Queensland, Australia. The island is situated approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) northeast of Thursday Island and measures about 2 square kilometres (0.77 sq mi). The island is an official locality known as Iama Island within the local government area of Torres Strait Island Region. The town, also called Yam Island, is located on the north-west coast of the island. In the 2021 census, Iama Island had a population of 275 people.
Its indigenous language is Kulkalgau Ya, a dialect of the Western-Central Torres Strait language, Kalaw Lagaw Ya.