Christmas Island is a small island in the Indian Ocean, officially part of Australia. Its territory is only 135 km2, and the number of inhabitants is about two thousand. Despite this, the island is of great interest. At least because it is, in fact, the flat top of a giant underwater volcano. Much can be said about him, but now only the most interesting facts will be noted.
Geographic features
Christmas Island is officially located in Australia. However, if you look at the map, it is very far from it. Located in the southwest of the continent, the metropolis of Perth, which is the fourth largest in the entire state, is located at a distance of 2360 kilometers from the island. While the city of Jakarta in Indonesia is separated from it by only 500 kilometers.
However, it is worth returning to geographicalfeatures. The highest point of Christmas Island, the photo of which is presented above, is 361 meters above sea level.
The area itself has a tropical climate with an average temperature of around 27°C. By the way, there is a lot of precipitation - 2000 mm per year. But this is not bad, because rivers are replenished due to rains. There are several of them on the island, and they provide the population with drinking water.
History
Christmas Island was discovered in 1643 by the captain of the English ship "Royal Mary" named William Minors. He and his team, on assignment from the British East India Company, were exploring the eastern part of the Indian Ocean.
It happened on Christmas Day. So I didn't have to think about the name for a long time.
Exploring the island was very difficult. The barrier was an impenetrable strip of reefs. By the way, it is located at a distance of 200 meters from the shore. There are no coastal shoals, and the bottom abruptly drops to a depth of about 5 kilometers.
So, for a long time no one could get close to the island. It wasn't until 1887 that a British captain named John Maclear, who piloted the Flying Fish, managed to find a convenient bay that gave explorers access to this piece of land.
A year later, an expedition from Britain arrived on the island. Scientists have collected a whole collection of local minerals, and even found the purest phosphate.
In 1888 England claimed Christmas Island as its own.
Further developmentevents
When Great Britain annexed this piece of land, the colonization of the island began. Quite successful, I must admit. Already in 1900, this island became part of the British colony called Singapore.
Then there was World War II. During her actions, Christmas Island was occupied by Japan. And in 1958, it was completely transferred to Australia. To this day, the government of the island is carried out by the official representative of the government of this state.
Population and setting
The whole of Christmas Island is one big rainforest. Interestingly, most of the territory (63%, to be more precise) is occupied by its eponymous national park. Unfortunately, forests have been significantly damaged due to phosphate mining, but they are gradually recovering.
On the island live mainly the descendants of Malay and Chinese workers. There has never been an indigenous population, and the current one is constantly declining. Phosphate reserves are depleted, people are losing their jobs and are moving to the Australian mainland.
But the atmosphere on the island is friendly. Muslim Eid al-Fitr, Chinese New Year and Christmas are celebrated here.
By the way, although phosphate reserves have depleted, tourism has begun to flourish. In many ways, the island gained its popularity due to the fact that it is located on the main route for cruise ships.
Attractions
Talking aboutabout where Christmas Island is located, and what its features are, one cannot fail to note several interesting phenomena. Perhaps the most impressive is the migration of red crabs.
Each year, more than 100 million individuals flee the monsoon forest towards the coast. It is worth recalling that the area of the island is only 135 km22! During this period, crabs are everywhere. They fill the houses of local residents, streets, roads. And after some time, their offspring migrate back.
It is also interesting that 25 species of birds (both sea and land) nest on the island. Some are considered rare and are protected by the state.
Fish in coastal waters is found in huge numbers. There are also sharks and whales.
And yes, there are attractions on such a small island. This is a national park, waterfalls in the central regions, coastal caves, World War II bunkers, mountain plateaus, and an unfinished spaceport. By the way, there are also some beautiful beaches here.
Kiribati
There is another Christmas Island, in the Pacific Ocean. Its second name is Kiritimati (pictured above). It is the world's largest coral island, covering an area of 321 km2. It is also interesting that it is on its territory that one of the highest concentrations of seabirds on the planet is observed. And on this atoll there are as many as five closed territories.
Where is Christmas Island? Officially, it belongs to the Republic of Kiribati. This is a Pacific statewhich is located in Polynesia and Micronesia (regions of Oceania). It’s easier to figure it out if you focus on Tahiti - 2,700 kilometers separate it from this archipelago.
The island is inhabited, now about 5-6 thousand people live on its territory.
Flora and fauna
As already mentioned, the Pacific Christmas Island is the largest atoll in the world. Its reef goes to a depth of up to 120 meters! And it relies, by the way, on volcanic rocks.
It is also worth noting that this coral island just has a huge tidal lagoon that connects to the northwest with the ocean. It is 16,000 hectares. But several hundred more small lagoons are dispersed in the eastern part. Their total area is 16,800 hectares. Interestingly, the salinity of the water in them differs very much.
By the way, there are hundreds of small islands in these lagoons. They are so small and low that most of them go under water at high tide.
Flora is represented by three groves of large pisonia and countless coconut trees.
By the way, since 1960 the territory has been declared a bird sanctuary. And several islands have become closed, and access to them is possible only with written permission. This is because endangered birds nest and rare trees grow in their territories. But mammals are extremely rare here. Green turtle, small rat and several other species.
Island features
Native vegetation on Pacific Christmas Island has been pushed back by about 1/3. Also, a lot of silver Messerschmidia was destroyed, and a considerable number of foreign plants were also brought to the territory. But this, as a result, turned into positive consequences.
Take, for example, the same fragrant plume that appeared here during the Second World War. It quickly spread throughout the atoll. What about the cistus anchor? He, too, was brought to the island by a man. As a result, these plants have formed dense thickets and "carpets" that are very convenient for nesting birds.
However, there are problems. Once on the territory of the island there were about 50 species of exotic plants. However, the US government in the 60s decided to conduct nuclear tests in the framework of the Dominic project here. There were 22 of them in total. As a result, some birds lost their ability to reproduce, and this affected their population. And some of the plants were destroyed irretrievably.
Even in the century before last, cats appeared on the island. They have become a threat to the birds. Therefore, they began to nest on the notorious islets in the lagoons, where cats cannot reach. The capture of these animals did not bring results. Therefore, the government decided to set traps in the villages and issue a ban on having cats in the house, only if they are not castrated. By the way, pigs are an even greater threat to birds. They exterminate terns.
But the greatest danger, of course, is people. In recent years, cases of seabirds being poached by poachers have become much more frequent. So man is the main environmental problem.
