Category: Christmas Island

Christmas Island is Australia’s territory situated in Indian Ocean. The Dutch and British navigators included this island in their map at the beginning of early 17th century. The island was named by the British and it got the name Christmas Island as the vessel of the British East India Company sailed past the island on a Christmas Day of 1643. Because of the rich deposits of phosphate, Christmas Island was the target of Japanese. Japanese invaded the island and exported phosphate to their country at the time of occupation. In 1945, the island was again occupied by British and up on the request of Australia, the sovereignty of Christmas Island was transferred to Australia in 1957.

Christmas Island is now Australia’s territory which is not self-governing and the administration of the islands is carried out by Attorney General’s department. The judicial system is under the Australian law and the authority of Australia’s Governor-General. Governor-General will appoint the administrator who represents Australia as well as the monarch. The residents of the island are the citizens of Australia who can cast vote in the federal elections. Phosphate mining was the only economic activity, but the mine was closed by the government of Australian in 1987.

The population of Christmas Island is 1,402 and 70% of the people are from Chinese ethnicity, 20% people are Europeans and 10% people are Malays. In the island, 67% of people are practicing Buddhism and Christianity is practiced by 11% of people. Islam is the religion practiced by 10% of people and other religions are followed by 2% of people. The official language of Christmas Island is English and other languages spoken are Malay and Chinese. Various species of sea birds are there in the island and there are numerous coconut crabs in the island.

Several tourist destinations are there in the Christmas Island. The island is popular for the variety of wildlife. There are several beached in Christmas Island and these beaches are suitable for kite surfing, boating, windsurfing and other such sports activities. The beaches of Christmas Island are popular for the yearly migration of Red Crabs. Greta beach is a calm beach surrounded by the rainforest and it is a fascinating sight to see numerous red crabs are migrating to the beach for laying eggs in the sea. Lily beach is located between rock cliffs and Ethel beach is perfect for snorkeling when water is serene. Dolly Beach is famous for camping with huge sand beach surrounded by rain forest and coconut palms.

Because of the presence of rainforest, there are hundreds of bird species. Among the 13 land birds, seven are endemic which includes the Christmas Island Thrush which sings with great musical quality. Bird watching holidays are really rewarding to the tourists. Flying Fish Cove is a famous tourist spot of Christmas Island where you can visit the harbor that provide the yachts. Diving in the beach is also possible in Flying Fish Cove. Christmas Island National Park is another tourist spot where you can find unique species of birds and animals.