Kiritimati

Kiritimati, also called Christmas Atoll—not to be confused with the Australian Territory of Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean—is a Pacific atoll re-discovered on December 24, 1777 by Captain James Cook. Kiritimati is the Kiribati spelling of "Christmas" (in Gilbertese, a "ti" combination is pronounced "s"; thus "kee-rees-mass"). and the atoll is one of the Northern Line Islands. It has the largest land area of any coral atoll in the world: 575 square kilometers (222 square miles). It is now part of the Republic of Kiribati.

There are four villages on the atoll: London, Tabwakea, Banana (Banana Wells), and Poland. Banana is near the Airport (Cassidy Airport) but has been relocated elsewhere to prevent contamination of the groundwater. Many of the place names are from Father Emmanuel Rougier, a former French priest that 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), and across the Channel (main entrance to the lagoon) founded Londres (now London, the main village), as a port. "La colline de Joe'' (Joe's Hill) is the highest point on the atoll (less than 12 m).

Some toponyms come from the nuclear test period (like Banana and Main Camp). There is a Japanese NASDA satellite tracking station and an airport (Aeon Field) for their Hope-X project (a space shuttle).

5,000 inhabitants. 2 representatives at the Maneaba ni Maungatabu. The ministry of the Line and Phoenix Group is located at London. Two new high schools (one Catholic, one Protestant).

No more flights from Honolulu (ended on April 26th, 2004): the charter flight of Air Kiribati (done by Aloha Airlines) connected Christmas to Honolulu every week with a Boeing 737. A provisonnial Gulfstream G1 will replace it (?). Some cargo, a big jetty, built by the Japanese.

The fauna and the flora are unique but the island is quite dry (severe droughts). Most of the fruits and vegetables are imported (rice and flour). The exportations are mainly aquarium fishes (but without charter?). At least, 1,000,000 coconut trees.