Kiritimati
- ISS004-E-6253
- 16 January 2002
- 20:58 UTC
Kiritimati (formerly known as Christmas Island) is one of the three islands that comprise the Northern Line Islands group; it is situated within the intertropical convergence zone, just notrh of the equator, located around 3,300 km east from Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands and 2,500 km south from Honolulu. Its nearest neighbour in the Line chain is the atoll of Tabuaeran, 285 km to the northwest. Kiritimati is by far the largest of the Line Islands and also has the largest land area (321 km²) of any atoll in the world. It measures approximately 70 km in length with a maximum width of 36 km.
This ancient atoll consists of a large, flat island, with a shallow tidal lagoon opening to the northwest. At the inner (eastern) end of the lagoon there are several hundred smaller, land-locked lagoons. In all, the lagoon complex covers around 160 km². A narrow reef platform extends up to 120 m from the shoreline around the whole island, being widest along the north coast.
Kiritimati is an internationally significant habitat for seabirds, with up to 20 species breeding on the island. Although numbers have declined in recent years, the island still has highest species diversity and largest bird population of any oceanic island in the world — up to 6 million birds can be on Kiritimati during the peak of the breeding season — including 3-4 million pairs of Sooty Terns (Sterna fuscata).
Vegetation on the island comprises tall and dwarf scrub, grassland and herb communities, as well as large areas that have been turned over to coconut plantation.
