Christmas Island (Kiritimati)
Christmas Island or Kiritimati is an atoll in the Line Archipelago belonging to Kiribati. It is 285 km from Tabuaeran Island, 2500 km from Honolulu, 2700 km from Tahiti. It has a land area of 388 km². Christmas Island has one of the highest concentrations of seabirds in the world. There are five closed territories on the atoll. During World War II, Kiritimati was occupied by Allied forces and airstrips were built. In 1956-1958, 50 kilometers from Christmas Island, Great Britain conducted nuclear weapons tests. Many structures were destroyed, but the surviving infrastructure helped to make Kiritimati the administrative center of the Line Islands.
