BetioBetio is the largest township of Kiribati's capital city, South Tarawa, and the country's main port. The settlement is located on a separate islet at the extreme southwest of the atoll. Betio Post Office opened on 5 April 1957 and closed in 1964. In 1967, the Marine Training Centre was created by Hamburg Süd. John Hilary Smith, governor of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands created the Betio Town Council in 1972.
ButaritariButaritari is an atoll in the Pacific Ocean island nation of Kiribati. The atoll is roughly four-sided. The south and southeast portion of the atoll comprises a nearly continuous islet. The atoll reef is continuous but almost without islets along the north side. Bikati and Bikatieta islets occupy a corner of the reef at the extreme northwest tip of the atoll. Small islets are found on reef sections between channels on the west side. The lagoon of Butaritari is deep and can accommodate large ships, though the entrance passages are relatively narrow.
TabiteueaTabiteuea (formerly Drummond's Island) is an atoll in the Gilbert Islands, Kiribati, farther south of Tarawa. This atoll is the second largest and the most populated of the Gilbert Islands after Tarawa. The atoll consists of one main island, Aanikai in the north, and several smaller islets in between along the eastern rim of the atoll. The atoll has a total land area of , while the lagoon measures . The population numbered 5,261 in 2015. The islanders have customary fishing practices related to the lagoon and the open ocean.
Gilbertese languageGilbertese or taetae ni Kiribati, also Kiribati (sometimes Kiribatese), is an Austronesian language spoken mainly in Kiribati. It belongs to the Micronesian branch of the Oceanic languages. The word Kiribati, the current name of the islands, is the local adaptation of the European name "Gilberts" to Gilbertese phonology.
Gilbert IslandsThe Gilbert Islands (Tungaru; formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill Islands) are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Papua New Guinea and Hawaii. They constitute the main part of the nation of Kiribati (the name of which is a rendering of “Gilberts” in the phonology of the indigenous Gilbertese). The atolls and islands of the Gilbert Islands are arranged in an approximate north-to-south line. The northernmost island in the group, Makin, it is approximately from southernmost, Arorae, as the crow flies.
Battle of TarawaThe Battle of Tarawa was fought on 20–23 November 1943 between the United States and Japan at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Americans died in the fighting, mostly on and around the small island of Betio, in the extreme southwest of Tarawa Atoll. The Battle of Tarawa was the first American offensive in the critical Central Pacific region.
Gilbert and Ellice IslandsThe Gilbert and Ellice Islands (GEIC as a colony) in the Pacific Ocean were part of the British Empire from 1892 to 1976. They were a protectorate from 1892 to 12 January 1916, and then a colony until 1 January 1976. The history of the colony was mainly characterized by phosphate mining on Ocean Island. In October 1975, these islands were divided by force of law into two separate colonies, and they became independent nations shortly thereafter: the Ellice Islands became Tuvalu in 1978, and the Gilbert Islands became part of Kiribati in 1979.
Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaignThe Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign were a series of battles fought from August 1942 through February 1944, in the Pacific theatre of World War II between the United States and Japan. They were the first steps of the drive across the Central Pacific by the United States Pacific Fleet and Marine Corps. The purpose was to establish airfields and naval bases that would allow air and naval support for upcoming operations across the Central Pacific.
KiribatiKiribati (ˌkɪrᵻˈbæs ), officially the Republic of Kiribati ([Ribaberiki] Kiribati), is an island country in Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of 2020 census, with more than half living on Tarawa atoll. The state comprises 32 atolls and one remote raised coral island, Banaba. Its total land area is dispersed over of ocean. The islands' spread straddles the equator and the 180th meridian, although the International Date Line goes around Kiribati and swings far to the east, almost reaching 150°W.
NauruNauru (nɑːˈuːruː or ˈnaʊruː ; Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru (Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Micronesia, part of Oceania in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba of Kiribati, about to the east. It lies northwest of Tuvalu, northeast of Solomon Islands, east-northeast of Papua New Guinea, southeast of the Federated States of Micronesia and south of the Marshall Islands.
