Christmas Island (Australia)

Territory of Christmas Island
Christmas Island
flag coat of arms
Official language	English , Chinese and Malay
Capital	Flying Fish Cove
Form of government	Australian outer area
Head of state	Elizabeth II
Head of government	Barry Haase
surface	135 km²
population	2072 (2011)
Population density	15.3 inhabitants per km²
currency	Australian dollar (AUD)
National anthem	Advance Australia Fair
Time zone	UTC +7
License Plate	no own
ISO 3166	CX , CXR, 162
Internet TLD	.cx
Telephone code	+61 (like mainland Australia)
Postal code: 6798

The Christmas Island ( English Territory of Christmas Island) is a 135 km² large, politically part of Australia island in the Indian Ocean . It is administered by the Australian Department of Transport and Regional Affairs. The capital is Flying Fish Cove .

geography

Christmas Island is located in the Indian Ocean , 350 km south of Java and 2616 km northwest of Perth . The island is about 135 km². It consists of a volcanic core ( trachyte and basalt ) as well as limestone , which has arisen from the skeletons of chamberlings ( Foraminifera ) and hard corals ( Scleractinia ). It rises from a depth of more than 4000 m and rises about 350 m above sea level. The highest point is Murray Hill in the west of the island with a height of 361 meters. The coast is rugged and difficult to reach. A significant part of the island is under nature protection. In 1980 the 85 km² Christmas Island National Park was established.

Flora and fauna

Christmas Island Crab

A large part of Christmas Island is covered with tropical rainforest .

While the wildlife formerly massive phosphate mining suffered, today announced from Africa entrained yellow crazy ant ( Anoplolepis gracilipes ) the greatest threat to native wildlife. It is searched for means to deal with these ant species that are already on a quarter of the island is common.

The red-colored Christmas Island Crabs ( Gecarcoidea natalis ) only occur here and on the Cocos Islands . Every year in November (depending on the moon phase), millions of crabs flock from the forest to the coast to release their eggs into the sea. The island also has the world's largest population of palm thieves ( Birgus latro ).

Overall, the invertebrates of Christmas Island have hardly been researched and hundreds of species are still waiting to be described . So far, 14 species of snails , 70 species of moths , including Moca chlorolepis , and 28 butterflies , including Brenthia elachista , 90 species of beetles , including the ladybug species Henosepilachna nativitatis , 30 species of arachnids and the earwig species Paralabella murrayi have been recorded . 53 species were introduced (intentionally or unintentionally), including honeybees , fruit flies , cockroaches , the centipede species Scolopendra morsitans , the hooded wolf tooth snake ( Lycodon capucinus ), the great agate snail and the yellow spinner ant mentioned above .

Some insects from Christmas Island

In total, there are 23 species of birds on the island, including 9 species of sea ​​birds . Birds that breed only on this island are the Christmas Island Frigatebird ( Fregata andrewsi ), the Abbott's Booby ( Papasula abbotti ), the Christmas Boobook ( Ninox natalis ), the Christmas Imperial Pigeon ( Ducula whartoni ) and one each subspecies of bands hawk , the Christmas Island Banded Goshawk ( Accipiter fasciatus natalis ), and the South Sea Thrush , the Christmas Island South Sea Thrush ( Turdus poliocephalus erythropleurus ). The white-tailed tropical bird ( Phaethon lepturus fulvus ), which adorns the flag of the territory as a heraldic animal, is also endemic to this island .

Originally there were five species of mammals on Christmas Island. The two former native rats , the Christmas Island rat and the Maclear rat , died out around 1903. Two parasites of Maclear's Rat that Schildzeckenart Ixodes nitens and flea species Xenopsylla nesiotes are considered extinct. The Christmas Island shrew ( Crocidura trichura ), believed to be extinct at the beginning of the 20th century, was rediscovered in 1985. During intensive searches in 2000, however, no more specimens could be found. The population of the Christmas Island flying fox ( Pteropus melanotus natalis ) is strongly declining. The Christmas Island pipistrelle ( Pipistrellus murrayi ) has not been sighted since 2009 and has been considered extinct since 2017. Four species were introduced: the house rat , house mouse , house cat, and house dog .

Of the six reptile species originally found , five are endemic: two skinks , two geckos and one blind snake species. Of the gecko species Lepidodactylus listeri , 43 specimens exist in human care; in the wild it is considered extinct. The gecko species Cyrtodactylus sadleiri is endangered. The Skinkart Emoia nativitatis has been considered extinct since 2017, after the last female died in human care in 2014. The skinkart Cryptoblepharus egeriae is believed to be extinct in the wild. The blind snake species Ramphotyphlops exocoeti is considered endangered. A population of the mangrove slim skink ( Emoia atrocostata ), which is widespread in Asia, Australia and the Pacific, has been considered extinct since 2004. Five other species were introduced, including the Asian house gecko ( Hemidactylus frenatus ).

The endemic orchid species Zeuxine exilis was thought to be lost from 1904 to 2009. The peperomia species Peperomia rossii is only known from the type specimens from 1898 and has since been considered lost or possibly extinct. The palm species Arenga listeri is considered endangered.

In 1980 the Christmas Island National Park was established, so that two thirds of the island is now under nature protection.

population

An estimated 2100 people live on the island (as of July 2011). Compared to 2001, when 2,771 people lived on Christmas Island, the number of inhabitants has decreased, but has increased again in recent years. The majority of the population consists of Chinese (70%), Europeans (20%) and Malays (10%). Due to the Chinese majority, Buddhism is the largest religious community on Christmas Island, followed by Islam , Christianity and Daoism . Common languages ​​on the island are English , Chinese and Malay . Population growth is -2.6% per year. There is a reception center for asylum seekers on the remote island. More than 200 people are accommodated there.

history

The island has been known to European seafarers since the early 17th century. It was named by the captain William Mynors , who reached it on December 25, 1643 with the ship Royal Mary belonging to the British East India Company . Because of the date, the island got its name. The island was first visited in 1688 by William Dampier , who found the island uninhabited.

After phosphate deposits were discovered on the island , it was annexed by the British Crown in 1888 . Settlement began shortly afterwards, mostly with workers from Singapore , China and Malaysia . From 1890, phosphate was then mined.

During the Second World War , the island was occupied by Japan from March 31, 1942. It was not until October 1945 that the island was repossessed by the United Kingdom .

On October 1, 1958, the island was handed over to the sovereignty of Australia .

At the northwestern end of the island, the Australian government has been operating the Christmas Island Immigration Reception and Processing Center since 2001 , one of the largest internment camps for asylum-seeking boat people .

Christmas Island is located within the Australia migration zone . This means that landing boat people on refugee boats cannot apply for asylum in Australia and they are detained in immigration custody in Australia .

In early February 2020, 277 Australian nationals were flown from China to Christmas Island because of the COVID-19 pandemic that began in Wuhan , China. There they had to spend a 14-day quarantine at the Christmas Island Immigration Reception and Processing Center before being flown back to Australia.

economy

→ Main article : Phosphate mining on Christmas Island

The backbone of the economy of the Christmas Island is the mining and export of phosphate , which on the island in 1899 open pit is obtained. The mining has been carried out by Phosphate Resources Limited (PRL) since 1990, which is the largest employer on Christmas Island with around 155 employees.

In 2012, phosphate with a P ₄ O ₁₀ content of 154 560 t and a value of approx. US $ 16 million was mined.

Another economic factor is tourism. From 2008 to autumn 2018 there was a reception center for refugees.

traffic

Internationally, Christmas Island is connected by the Christmas Island Airport . In addition to road traffic, there was also a railway line on Christmas Island , the Christmas Island Phosphate Railway , which was built for phosphate mining, but is now closed and has since been dismantled.

Climate table

Christmas Island
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.     277   28 23     331   28 23     283   28 23     229   28 24     166   28 24     168   27 23     99   26th 23     42   26th 22nd     32   26th 22nd     54   27 23     133   27 23     191   28 23 Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm Source: Bureau of Meteorology, Australia, data: 1977-2006

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Christmas Island Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 28.0 28.0 28.4 28.3 27.9 27.1 26.3 26.1 26.2 27.0 27.4 27.8 O 27.4 Min. Temperature (° C) 22.7 22.6 23.1 23.5 23.8 23.2 22.5 22.1 22.1 22.6 22.8 22.6 O 22.8 Precipitation ( mm ) 276.8 331.2 283.4 228.6 166.3 167.8 98.8 41.7 32.1 54.3 133.0 190.6 Σ 2,004.6 Rainy days ( d ) 17.7 19.3 20.4 17.3 14.8 13.9 12.3 9.8 8.1 7.5 10.4 14.1 Σ 165.6 Source: Bureau of Meteorology, Australia, data: 1977-2006

Web links

Commons : Christmas Island  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikimedia Atlas: Christmas Island, Australia  - geographical and historical maps

• Information page of the Australian Government (English)
• Website of Christmas Island (English)
• The World Factbook on Christmas Island (English)
• Weather information from Airport Christmas Island (English)
• Homepage of the Phosphate Society (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ rulers.org
2. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from October 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ Christmas Island National Park Conservation projects section “Yellow crazy ants”, accessed on February 5, 2016
4. ↑ Christmas Island National Park website section "Red Crabs - Gecarcoidea natalis ", accessed on February 5, 2016
5. ↑ Christmas Island National Park website, section “Insects”, accessed on February 5, 2016
6. ↑ Christmas Island National Park website, “Birds” section, accessed on February 5, 2016
7. ↑ Information on bird life PDF file (2.20 MB, English), accessed on February 5, 2016
8. ↑ Christmas Island National Park website, “Mammals” section, accessed on February 5, 2016
9. ↑ Christmas Island National Park website, “Reptiles” section, accessed on February 5, 2016
10. ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of November 9, 2015: " Uprising in Australian internment camp for refugees "
11. ↑ Naaman Zhou and Ben Doherty: 'A hard and sad decision': fleeing coronavirus in Wuhan for Christmas Island . In: The Guardian, February 7, 2020
12. ↑ Christmas Island Colony. In: The British Empire. (English). 
13. ↑ Christmas Island. Mining Link, accessed November 18, 2018 . 
14. ↑ Information on phosphate degradation ( Memento of April 29, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (English), accessed on April 22, 2015
15. ↑ Welt-Bergbau-Daten ( memento from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) at www.bmwfw.gv.at, accessed on April 22, 2015.
16. ↑ spiegel.de February 13, 2019: Australia wants to reopen notorious refugee camp
17. ↑ Government website on the economy of Christmas Island (English), accessed on April 22, 2015
18. ↑ Bureau of Meteorology, Australia: Climate Information Christmas Island. World Meteorological Organization, accessed April 6, 2012 . 

See also

• Kiritimati (Kiribati for Christmas (Iceland)), atoll in the Central Pacific
• Easter Island , a Chilean island in the Southeast Pacific

Coordinates: 10 ° 28 ′ 47 ″  S , 105 ° 38 ′ 40 ″  E