Phoenix Islands

The Phoenix Islands, also known as Rawaki, are a group of eight atolls and two submerged coral reefs.

They are located in the central Pacific Ocean. This group sits east of the Gilbert Islands and west of the Line Islands. The islands are north of Samoa. Politically, the Phoenix Islands are part of the Republic of Kiribati. They are important because they contain the Phoenix Islands Protected Area. This area was established in 2008. It is one of the largest protected areas in the world. It protects about 120 species of coral and over 500 species of fish.

An atoll is a ring-shaped coral reef that surrounds a lagoon. The Phoenix Islands consist of several different types of atolls and reefs. Some islands are inhabited, while most are empty. Kanton Island is the only one with people living there. It is the northernmost island in the group.

Kanton is a narrow ribbon of land. It encloses a large lagoon of about 50 square kilometers. Other islands include Enderbury, Rawaki, Manra, Birnie, McKean, Nikumaroro, and Orona. There are also two submerged reefs named Winslow Reef and Carondelet Reef.

Each island has its own unique environment and biology. Kanton Island is mostly bare coral. It is covered with herbs, grasses, and low shrubs. Its lagoon is full of sharks, tuna, stingrays, and eels. McKean Island is the northwesternmost island. It has no fresh water or trees. Instead, it has a hypersaline lagoon, which means it is very salty. McKean is a massive sanctuary for birds. It hosts up to 85,000 lesser frigatebirds. Rawaki Island is different because it has freshwater pools. These are the only freshwater wetlands in the entire Phoenix Islands group.

Manra and Nikumaroro are much greener than the other islands. Manra is covered with coconut palms and scrub forests. It contains many different plant species like Pisonia and Morinda. Nikumaroro also has profuse vegetation, including coconut palms and scrub forests.

Nikumaroro was once the headquarters for a British colonial officer. He built a village with coral-paved streets and a radio shack. Orona is similar to Manra. It features coconut palms, scrub forests, and grasses. It also contains an ancient stone marae, which is a sacred place, on its eastern tip.

Human history in the islands began a very long time ago. Evidence suggests people settled these islands around 1000 BC. Archaeological sites on Manra and Orona show two different groups lived there. One group came from eastern Polynesia. The other group came from Micronesia. Scientists found basalt artifacts from Samoa and the Cook Islands. This proves people traveled long distances across the ocean. These ancient communities eventually left or disappeared due to the hard life on the isolated islands.

In the 1800s, the islands saw new activity from whaling ships. These ships helped map the area between 1821 and 1825. The name "Phoenix Islands" likely began around the 1840s. It probably came from the many whaling ships named Phoenix. Later, the United States claimed the islands under the 1856 Guano Islands Act. Guano is a type of bird droppings used as fertilizer. However, the United States released these claims in 1979. This happened through the Treaty of Tarawa when Kiribati became an independent republic.

The late 1930s brought the Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme. This was the last colonial expansion attempted by the British Empire. They tried to settle people on islands like Manra and Nikumaroro. They also used islands for guano mining. For example, Enderbury was heavily mined in the late 19th century. However, the settlement project failed. The islands suffered from severe droughts. There was also a lack of fresh water. The declining market for copra, which is dried coconut meat, also hurt the economy. Most settlers were evacuated by 1963.

Today, the islands remain mostly uninhabited and wild. Kanton Island still has a small population. About 20 people live there in buildings from the 1936 to 1976 period. The island once had an important airport called Langton. This station was used for refueling and even missile tracking. Now, the Phoenix Islands serve as a vital ecological zone. The protected area helps maintain the balance of the Pacific Ocean. The combination of coral reefs and remote islands makes this a unique part of Earth.