Christmas Island What would be a better place to spend your Christmas than on Christmas Island? Imag
Christmas IslandWhat would be a better place to spend your Christmas than on Christmas Island? Imagine yourself surrounded by tropical rainforest instead of pine trees and on a sandy white beach instead of covered in snow. Also known as Kiritmati, this raised coral atoll lies in the Indian Ocean about 230 km from the Indonesian Island of Java. The island got its name on Christmas Day 1643 when it was passed by the British ship Royal Mary. The first time the island was actually laid foot on (it was uninhabited) was around 1699. After phosphate was discovered in the late 1800s many Malay and Chinese workers arrived. Soon afterwards Britain annexed it. In the Second World War the Japanese tried to occupy the island, mainly due to the rich phosphate deposits. Nowadays Christmas Island is Australian Territory.The most commonly (literally tens of millions!) encountered species on the atoll is the red crab. From October to December they begin a spectacular migration from the forest to the beach where they breed and spawn. A national park that covers 63% of the island protects these animals. Due to its isolated geographical location and the fact that the island was left undisturbed for a long time flora and fauna have a high level of endemism (you only find them on the island).By the way, Christmas Island is also one of the best places in the world to celebrate the New Year; since it is the first place on earth to experience it (it has the farthest time zone of UTC +14)–BOImage: NASA Earth Observatory. Christmas Island as seen from the International Space Station.References:http://www.parksaustralia.gov.au/christmas/http://www.christmas.net.au/ -- source link
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