The three archipelagos of the island state of Kiribati include the Phoenix Islands, the Line Islands and the Gilbert Islands, which are also the main islands of the Pacific state.
The Line Islands stretch across the equator and consist of a total of 11 islands, only three of which are populated with around 11,000 inhabitants.
The group of line islands includes Kiritimati (Christmas Island), Tabuaeran (Fanning), Kingman Reef, Malden, Palmyra Atoll, Millennium Island, Starbuck, Teraina (Washington), Filippo Reef, Flint and Jarvis.
On the Millennium Island east of the date line, the beginning of the year is celebrated first every year.
The Line Islands are home to one of the largest bird breeding areas in the world, with thousands of colonies and numerous different bird species.
The island of Kiritimati, the most important island in the archipelago, has almost 7,000 inhabitants and is home to most of the line islands' inhabitants. Kiritimati is a coral island measuring around 45 by 40 kilometers. The main town of Kiritimatis is London and the highest point is Joes Hill at just 13 meters. The three other towns on the island include Tabwakea, Banana and Poland.
London is the economic and political center of the archipelago, from which seaweed, copra and aquarium fish are exported. The city is also the starting point for steadily increasing diving and fishing tourism.
The Phoenix Islands consist of a total of eight atolls with only around 30 inhabitants. The archipelago includes the atolls of Enderbury, Kanton, Manra, Nikumaroro, Orona, McKean, Rawaki and Birnie.
The Phoenix Islands are a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a nature reserve.
In January 2019, on my way from Hawaii to Fiji, I made a quick stop on Christmas Island, part of the Line Islands. Even from above the plane, I was able to impressively admire the extent of the many atolls and coral reefs.
The island of Kiritimati is the largest atoll in the world, offers a very impressive landscape, is home to countless coconut trees and is surrounded by endless beaches with turquoise water.
Since there are very few flights to Christmas Island, I couldn't stay very long, otherwise I would have had to spend a whole week there. So after a short stay we went on to Nadi on the Fiji Islands.
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