The capital was moved from Rabaul in 1994 when the volcanoes Tavurvur and Vulcan erupted. As a result, the population of the town increased more than sixfold from 3,150 in 1990 to 20,262 in 2000.
Kokopo was known as Herbertsh�he during the German New Guinea administration which controlled the area between 1884 and 1914. Until 1910 it was the capital of the German colonial administration
