Kiritimati

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NASA photograph of Kiritimati Island, taken from the International Space Station.

Kiritimati—also called Christmas Island and not to be confused with Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean—is a Pacific Ocean atoll in the northern Line Islands and part of the Republic of Kiribati. The island has the greatest land area of any coral atoll in the world: 642 square kilometres (248 sq mi). Indeed, it comprises over 70% of the total land area of Kiribati, a nation encompassing 33 Pacific atolls.

Kiritimati was discovered by Europeans on December 24, 1777 by Captain James Cook. Kiritimati is the Gilbertese spelling of "Christmas" (in Gilbertese, the "ti" combination is pronounced "s"; thus "kee-rees-mass").

Presently, there are four villages on the island: London (the main village and port facility), Tabwakea, Banana (Banana Wells), and Poland. Banana is near the airport (Cassidy Airport) but may be relocated closer to London to prevent contamination of the groundwater. Many of the place names in the island date from Father Emmanuel Rougier, a French priest who leased the island from 1917 to 1939 and planted some 800,000 coconut trees there. He lived in his Paris house (now, only small ruins) located across the Burgle Channel (main entrance to the lagoon) from Londres (or London, which he established as a port). La colline de Joe (Joe's Hill) is the highest point on the atoll (less than 12 m or 40 ft above sea level) near Artemia Corners.

Kiritimati map

The British tested their first H-Bomb here in May 1957, and the US conducted Operation Dominic here in 1962. Some toponyms come from the nuclear test period (like Banana and Main Camp). There is a Japanese NASDA satellite tracking station and an abandoned airfield (Aeon Field) proposed for reuse by the Japanese for their now-canceled HOPE-X project (a space shuttle).

The island has about 5,000 inhabitants and 2 representatives in the Maneaba ni Maungatabu. The ministry of the Line and Phoenix islands is located in London. There are also two new high schools on the road between Tabwakea and Banana: one Catholic and one Protestant.

Previously (ended on April 26, 2004) a charter flight by Air Kiribati (done by Aloha Airlines) connected Christmas to Honolulu every week with a Boeing 737. Provisional jets shortly replaced it. Since October 2005, Fijian Air Pacific makes a weekly stop between Honolulu and Nadi in Fiji. A large and modern jetty, handling some cargo, was built by the Japanese.

The flora and the fauna are unique, but the island is affected by regular, severe droughts. Most of the atoll's food supplies have to be imported, although marine fish are plentiful. Exports of the atoll include aquarium fish, coconuts, and seaweed. Additionally, there is a small amount of tourism.

Trivia

• Kiritimati is the first inhabited place on Earth to experience the New Year each year (see Caroline Atoll, Kiribati).