Coral atoll in the northern Line Islands, Kiribati
This article is about Kiribati's atoll in the Pacific Ocean. For Australia's territory, see Christmas Island. For other uses, see Christmas Island (disambiguation).
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Kiritimati (pronounced [kiˈrɪsmæs], also known as Christmas Island) is a Pacific Ocean atoll in the northern Line Islands. It is part of the Republic of Kiribati. The name is derived from the English word "Christmas" written in Gilbertese according to its phonology, in which the combination ti is pronounced s.
Kiritimati has the greatest land area of any atoll in the world, about 388 square kilometres (150 square miles);[1] its lagoon is roughly the same size. The atoll is about 150 km (93 mi) in perimeter, while the lagoon shoreline extends for over 48 km (30 mi).[2] Kiritimati comprises over 70% of the total land area of Kiribati, a country encompassing 33 Pacific atolls and islands.[3]
It lies 232 km (144 mi) north of the equator, 2,160 km (1,340 mi) south of Honolulu, and 5,360 km (3,330 mi) from San Francisco. Kiritimati is in the world's farthest forward time zone, UTC+14, and is therefore one of the first inhabited places on Earth to experience New Year's Day (see also Caroline Atoll, Kiribati). Although it lies 2,460 km (1,530 mi) east of the 180th meridian, the Republic of Kiribati realigned the International Date Line in 1995, placing Kiritimati to the west of the dateline.
Nuclear tests were conducted on and around Kiritimati by the United Kingdom in the late 1950s, and by the United States in 1962. During these tests, the island was not evacuated, exposing the i-Kiribati residents and the British, New Zealand, and Fijian servicemen to nuclear radiation.
The entire island is a Wildlife Sanctuary;[4] access to five particularly sensitive areas is restricted.[1]
^ abCite error: The named reference teebaki1993 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference streets1877 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"20. Kiritimati" (PDF). Office of Te Beretitenti – Republic of Kiribati Island Report Series. 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 July 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
^Edward R. Lovell; Taratau Kirata; Tooti Tekinaiti (September 2002). "Status report for Kiribati's coral reefs" (PDF). Centre IRD de Nouméa. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
Kiritimati (pronounced [kiˈrɪsmæs], also known as Christmas Island) is a Pacific Ocean atoll in the northern Line Islands. It is part of the Republic of...
The bokikokiko, Kiritimati reed warbler or Christmas Island warbler (Acrocephalus aequinoctialis) is a species of warbler in the family Acrocephalidae...
around this country, so that the Line Islands, including the inhabited Kiritimati island, started the year 2000 on its territory before any other country...
The Christmas sandpiper or Kiritimati sandpiper (Prosobonia cancellata) was a small shorebird. It became extinct some time in the first half of the 19th...
Tabwakea is the largest village in Kiribati, located on the island of Kiritimati, within the archipelago of Line Islands. Tabwakea means turtle in Gilbertese...
75°W / -4.97; -158.75). Another, Kiritimati, has the largest land area of any atoll in the world. Only Kiritimati, Tabuaeran, and Teraina have a permanent...
provides service to eastern part of Kiribati (Kiritimati island) through the 234-mile (377 km) Kiritimati Branch with one fiber pair. The network, which...
uninterrupted and quite deep. Some archaeologists have argued that Tabuaeran and Kiritimati were one community living across a matched set of islands as despite their...
CXI, ICAO: PLCH) is an airport located north of Banana, a settlement on Kiritimati (pronounced Christmas) island in Kiribati. Until 2018, it was the only...
Aeon Point is the easternmost point of Kiritimati Island in Kiribati. There is an abandoned airport, named Aeon Field, near Aeon Point which was constructed...
in Kiribati. In December 1960, the British colonial authority gazetted Kiritimati as a bird sanctuary under the "Gilbert and Ellice Island Colony Wild Birds...
water hemisphere, is further north-east, in eastern Kiribati south of Kiritimati, just west from Starbuck Island at 4°58′S 158°45′W / 4.97°S 158.75°W...
view of Kivalina, Alaska from the northwest. Nearly half the area of Kiritimati is covered with lagoons, some freshwater and some seawater. Nusa Lembongan...
and hydrogen bombs carried out in 1957 and 1958 at Malden Island and Kiritimati (Christmas Island) in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands in the Pacific Ocean...
(NNSS/NTS) and the Pacific Proving Grounds in the Marshall Islands and off Kiritimati Island in the Pacific, plus three in the Atlantic Ocean. Ten other tests...
December 2019. "Nauru Airlines / Air Kiribati Begins Regular Tarawa – Kiritimati Service From Aug 2023". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 2 August 2023. "Nauru Airlines...
Suwarrow at 13°16′S latitude and 163° 7′W longitude. Teraina, Tabuaeran, Kiritimati, Malden, Starbuck, Vostok, Caroline, and Flint are part of Kiribati. Kingman...
the Line Islands of the central Pacific (3 at Malden Island and 6 at Kiritimati/Christmas Island); and 24 in the U.S. as part of joint test series). Often...
conditions is crossing the equator. Such a crossing was carried out near Kiritimati, though it is not clear whether the planned voyage took the WSSRC's orthodromic...
a relatively new species of triggerfish first identified in 2005 from Kiritimati (Christmas Island) atoll, Kiribati. It is abundant on coral rubble and...
government and not widely recognised by local people. On the island of Kiritimati, squatters live in both villages and on old Burns Philp copra plantations...
followed by Rennell Island (660 km2, 250 sq mi). More sources, however, list Kiritimati as the largest atoll in the world in terms of land area. It is also a...
Information Country United States Test site Johnston Island, Johnston Atoll Kiritimati (Christmas Island), Kiribati Pacific Ocean off California Period 1962...
Global Information
Kiribati