Christmas Island

The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean, composed of one island. It has a population of 2,072 residents who live in a number of "settlement areas" on the northern tip of the island: Flying Fish Cove (also known as Kampong), Silver City, Poon Saan, and Drumsite. The main population are Chinese Australian of Malaysian Chinese descent, Malay Australians as well as Mainland European Australians. It was named "Christmas Island" because it was discovered on Christmas Day (25 December 1643).

The island's geographic isolation and history of minimal human disturbance has led to a high level of endemism among its flora and fauna, which is of interest to scientists and naturalists. Sixty-three percent of its 135 square kilometres (52 sq mi) is an Australian national park. There exist large areas of primary monsoonal forest.

Phosphate, deposited originally as guano, has been mined on the island for many years.

History

First visit by Europeans

Captain William Mynors of the Royal Mary, an English East India Company vessel, named the island when he sailed past it on Christmas Day, in 1643. The island was included on English and Dutch navigation charts as early as the beginning of the 17th century, but it was not until 1666 that a map published by Dutch cartographer Pieter Goos included the island. Goos labelled the island "Mony", the meaning of which is unclear. English navigator William Dampier, aboard the English ship Cygnet, made the earliest recorded visit to the sea around the island in March 1688. He found it uninhabited. Dampier gave an account of the visit which can be found in his Voyages. Dampier was trying to reach Cocos from New Holland. His ship was pulled off course in an easterly direction, arriving at Christmas Island twenty-eight days later. Dampier landed at the Dales (on the west coast). Two of his crewmen became the first Europeans to set foot on Christmas Island.

Christmas Island (Tasmania)

Christmas Island is an island nature reserve, with an area of 63.49 ha, in south-eastern Australia. It is part of Tasmania’s New Year Island Group which includes the much larger King Island, lying north-west of Tasmania at the western limit of Bass Strait. According to the International Hydrographic Organization, the line separating Bass Strait from the Great Australian Bight runs through King Island, so Christmas Island lies in the Great Australian Bight. The island forms part of the King Island Important Bird Area because of its importance for breeding seabirds and waders.

Fauna

Breeding seabird and shorebird species include little penguin, short-tailed shearwater, Pacific gull, silver gull, sooty oystercatcher, pied oystercatcher and black-faced cormorant. Reptiles include tiger snakes and lizards. A species of mouse is present.

References

Notes

Sources

Christmas Island (disambiguation)

Christmas Island is an Australian island territory in the Indian Ocean.

Christmas Island may refer also to:

Places

Music

See also

Island Hotel

The Island Hotel (also known as Parsons and Hale's General Store) is a historic building in Cedar Key, Florida, located at 224 2nd Street. On November 23, 1984, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

The building was erected between 1859 and 1861 by Major John Parsons and Francis E. Hale for use as a general store. It has 10 inches (250 mm) thick tabby walls and 12 inches (300 mm) oak beams. The Cedar Key Post Office and customs house were also located in the building in the 1860s. The building may have housed both Union and Confederate troops at various times during the Civil War, as the town changed hands more than once. Part of the building was used as a boarding house by the end of the 1880s. The store closed in 1910. The building became a hotel in 1946.

References

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