From Samoa (on the west side of the International Dateline, I.D.L.) and then American Samoa (on the east side of the I.D.L.), we sailed several days northeast to reach the small island country of Kiribati (pronounced KIRR-i-bass), where we anchored off Tarawa Atoll – the largest atoll — for a one-day visit. Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati – formerly the Gilbert Islands when under U.K. [Commonwealth] rule, from 1892 until independence in 1979 — is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is around 120,000, with more than half living on Tarawa atoll. The country comprises 32 atolls and one remote raised coral island.
Geographically, “the islands’ spread straddles the equator and the 180th meridian, making Kiribati the only country in the world located simultaneously in all four hemispheres: the Northern, Southern, Western, and Eastern hemispheres… Kiritimati (previously Christmas Island) in the Line Islands [one of three groups of islands making up Kiribati] has the largest land area of any atoll in the world.” – Wikipedia
“Copra [the flesh of coconuts] and fish now represent the bulk of production and exports. Kiribati has the lowest GDP out of any sovereign state in Oceania and is considered one of the least developed countries in the world. In one form or another, Kiribati gets a large portion of its income from abroad. Examples include fishing licenses, development assistance, workers’ remittances, especially the seafarers issued from Marine Training Centre, and a few tourists. Given Kiribati’s limited domestic production ability, it must import nearly all of its essential foodstuffs and manufactured items; it depends on these external sources of income for financing.” — Wikipedia
[Kiribati is] “home to the South Pacific’s largest marine reserve. [While] many of the atolls are inhabited; most of them are very low-lying and at risk from rising sea levels as a result of global warming. With the Fijian government’s permission, Kiribati [in 2012] bought land in Fiji for food security and as a possible refuge. Kiribati’s economy is weak and is largely dependent on exports of copra and coconuts. Fishing licenses, foreign aid and remittances from workers abroad also contribute, as does a trust fund set up with revenues from phosphate mines on the island of Banaba, whose depletion in 1980 hit Kiribati hard.” — www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-16431122
From our ship we took Zodiacs for a beach landing at Tabonteke Beach Park in the village of London on the north side of the Kiitimati atoll’s western opening. London is the administrative capital of Kiritimati. We were greeted by many locals who wished us “Mauri” (“hello” in the Kiribati language). With a population of nearly 2,000, London village is the second most populous of the four villages on the island (behind Tabwakea, located a little to the north of London on the atoll’s western side).
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Note that we all found it somewhat ironic that we celebrated American Thanksgiving (the fourth Thursday in November each year) on the ship while visiting Christmas Island (Kiritimati’s former name).
History of the Kiribati Islands in World War II:
From 1941 to 1943, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, during World War II, Butaritari and Tarawa atolls were occupied by Japan. 1943 saw the Battle of Tarawa. The heavily defended Tarawa Atoll saw some of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific when U.S. Marines invaded to drive out the Japanese. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Americans died in just four days of fighting, mostly on and around the small island of Betio, in the southwest of the atoll. The battle was some of the bloodiest fighting of the Pacific campaign. The battle was a turning point in the Central Pacific for the United States and its Allies.
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