Tabuaeran

Tabuaeran
	NASA photo by Tabuaeran
Waters	Pacific Ocean
archipelago	Line Islands
Geographical location	3 ° 52 ′ N , 159 ° 22 ′ W Coordinates: 3 ° 52 ′ N , 159 ° 22 ′ W
Number of islands	> 12
Main island	Motu o dew
Land area	33.7 km²
Lagoon area	110 km²
Highest elevation	4 m
Residents	2315 (2015)

Tabuaeran , also Fanning Island , is an atoll in the north of the Line Islands south of Hawaii and belongs to the Pacific island state of Kiribati .

geography

The atoll was originally named after its American explorer Edmund Fanning (1769–1841). It consists of three larger islands and numerous other small islets ( motus ). The oval lagoon can be navigated by small ships through a passage to the west (English Harbor) . Around 2500 people live in nine settlements on a land area of 33.7 km². All settlements are along the west and south-west coasts of the atoll. The highest point is currently 4 m above sea level.

The inhabitants of Tabuaeran are predominantly Micronesians , who were brought from the Gilbert Islands by Fanning Island Plantations Ltd. settled as workers for the copra industry at the beginning of the 19th century. The administrative seat is in Paelau (Napia) in the northwest.

The individual settlements (from north to south)

settlement	Population ( census )
settlement	2005	2010	2015
Napari (Nabari)	194	-	-
Tereitaki	438	346	505
Betania	260	175	203
Paelau (Napia, English Harbor)	250	200	257
Aontenaa (Aontena)	177	190	259
Terine (Tenenebo)	461	453	406
Tereitannano	249	168	241
Aramari	358	244	274
Eten (Mwanuku, Manuku)	152	184	170
Tabuaeran overall	2539	1960	2315

Satellite map with seven villages

history

With a distance of around 1,450 km from the Hawaiian Islands, Tabuaeran is a possible stopover for Polynesian settlers en route to Hawaii. Objects have been found that suggest early Polynesian colonization , possibly from the Cook Islands or Tonga . When Captain Edmund Fanning discovered the islands for the United States on November 6, 1798 with the ship Betsy , they were uninhabited like the other atolls of the Line Islands.

Fanning was first claimed by the US in 1800 and annexed by the United Kingdom in 1889 . The British set up a cable station for their transpacific cable, which was damaged in 1914 by the German cruiser Nürnberg . In 1939 the atoll became part of the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands and in 1979 with the independence of the colony part of the Republic of Kiribati .