Christmas Island
Christmas Island | |
|---|---|
Australian Indian Ocean Territory External territory of Australia | |
| Territory of Christmas Island 圣诞岛领地 / 聖誕島領地 (Chinese) Wilayah Pulau Krismas (Malay) | |
Flying Fish Cove, the territory's capital | |
Location of Christmas Island (red circle) and the location of Australia mainland (continent in red) | |
| Sovereign state | Australia |
| British annexation | 6 June 1888 |
| Transferred from Singapore to Australia | 1 October 1958 |
| Named for | Christmas Day when it was found |
| Capital and largest city | Flying Fish Cove ("The Settlement") 10°25′18″S 105°40′41″E |
| Official languages | None |
| Spoken languages | |
| Ethnic groups (2021) |
|
| Demonym(s) | Christmas Islander |
| Government | Directly administered dependency |
• Monarch | Charles III |
| David Hurley | |
• Administrator | Farzian Zainal |
• Shire President | Gordon Thomson |
| Parliament of Australia | |
• Senate | represented by Northern Territory senators |
| included in the Division of Lingiari | |
| Area | |
• Total | 135 km2 (52 sq mi) |
• Water (%) | 0 |
| Highest elevation | 361 m (1,184 ft) |
| Population | |
• 2021 census | 1,692 (not ranked) |
• Density | 10.39/km2 (26.9/sq mi) (not ranked) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2010 estimate |
• Total | $52.1 million |
| Currency | Australian dollar (AU$) (AUD) |
| Time zone | UTC+07:00 (CXT) |
| Driving side | left |
| Calling code | +61 8 91 |
| Postcode | 6798 |
| ISO 3166 code | CX |
| Internet TLD | .cx |
| Christmas Island | |||||||||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 圣诞岛 | ||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 聖誕島 | ||||||||||||||
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| Territory of Christmas Island | |||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 圣诞岛领地 | ||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 聖誕島領地 | ||||||||||||||
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| Malay name | |||||||||||||||
| Malay | Wilayah Pulau Krismas | ||||||||||||||
The Territory of Christmas Island is an Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean comprising the island of the same name. It is located approximately 350 kilometres (190 nautical miles) south of Java and Sumatra and about 1,550 km (840 nmi) north-west of the closest point on the Australian mainland. It has an area of 135 square kilometres (52 sq mi).
Christmas Island had a population of 1,692 residents as of 2021, with the majority living in settlements on the northern edge of the island. The main settlement is Flying Fish Cove. Historically, Asian Australians of Chinese, Malay, and Indian descent formed the majority of the population. Today, around two-thirds of the island's population is estimated to have Straits Chinese origin (though just 22.2% of the population declared a Chinese ancestry in 2021), with significant numbers of Malays and European Australians and smaller numbers of Straits Indians and Eurasians. Several languages are in use including English, Malay, and various Chinese dialects. Islam and Buddhism are major religions on the island. The religion question in the Australian census is optional, and 28% of the population do not declare their religious belief.
The first European to sight Christmas Island was Richard Rowe of the Thomas in 1615. Captain William Mynors named it on Christmas Day, 25 December 1643. It was first settled in the late 19th century. Christmas 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. The majority (63%) of the island is included in the Christmas Island National Park, which features several areas of primary monsoonal forest. Phosphate, deposited originally as guano, has been mined on the island since 1899.