Lae

Lae is the capital of Morobe Province and the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea, on the northern coast of the Huon Gulf near the Markham River delta, with a population of about 104,000 in 2023 and an urban population of 173,000. The city grew during a gold rush that began in the 1920s, and in July 1937 the aviator Amelia Earhart was last seen flying out of its airport on the leg of her round-the-world attempt from which she never returned. Japanese forces occupied Lae as a major base from March 1942 until Allied troops recaptured it in September 1943, and the city is today the country's largest cargo port and industrial hub, at the coastal end of the Highlands Highway connecting the coast to the interior.