CAROLINE ISLAND

Millennium Island (previously Caroline Island, or Caroline atoll), is an atoll, in the Pacific Ocean that is part of Kiribati. It is the easternomost atoll of Kiribati. The atoll is part of the Southern Line Islands. In total, the atoll consists of 39 islets(motus), which cover a surface (landmass) of about 400 hectares (990 acres). The atoll covers an area of about 24 square kilometres (9.3 sq mi)

It was first sighted by Europeans in 1606, it was claimed by the United Kingdom in 1868. It has been part of the Republic of Kiribati since the island nation’s independence in 1979. Caroline Island has remained relatively untouched and is considered one of the world’s most pristine tropical islands, despite guano mining, copra harvesting, and human habitation in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is home to one of the world’s largest populations of the coconut crab and is an important breeding site for seabirds, most notably the sooty tern.

The atoll is currently designated as a wildlife sanctuary.^[1] In 2014 the Kiribati government established a 12-nautical-mile fishing exclusion zone around each of the southern Line Islands (Caroline (commonly called Millennium), Flint, Vostok, Malden, and Starbuck).^[2] Both Flint and wostok are about 230 kilometres (140 mi) to the west. Papeete, Thahiti is about 849 kilometres (528 mi) to the south.

It extends about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) from north to south, and about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from east to west. The total landmass is just 3.76 square kilometres (1.45 sq mi). The coral reef extends about 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) out. The lagoon is very shallow, and normal boats usually cannot enter. At high tide, it is possible to reach a beach with a boat. At low tide, a walk of about 400 metres (1,300 ft) in waist-deep water is required.

In the north and in the south, there are bigger islands. The one in the north is called Nake Island, the one in the south is called South Island. Both have freshwater sources. There are aquifers on both.

In 1994, Kiribati changed the International date line, so that all of Kiribati would have the same date. This meant that Caroline atoll would be the first landmass on earth with the new date. For the year-2000 celebrations, the atoll was renamed Millennium Island. Other names in the past have included Hirst Island, Clark Island and Independence Island.

The island is an important breeding place for birds. The only known mammal on the atoll is a rat

Caroline Islands, archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean, the islands of which make up the republics of Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia. The Carolines may be divided into two physiographic units: coral caps surmount mountains of volcanic origin to the east, while to the west the islands are sections of Earth’s crust that have been folded and pushed above the surface of the ocean. Both units have formations rising to elevations of more than 500 feet (150 metres). The total land area is about 500 square miles (1,300 square km). The climate is tropical, with mean monthly temperatures in the high 70s to low 80s F (about 26 to 28 °C). Precipitation is evenly distributed throughout the year and generally exceeds 120 inches (3,050 mm) annually on populated islands. It may exceed 180 inches (4,570 mm) on the windward sides of high islands. In an average year more than 20 typhoons (tropical cyclones) originate in the Carolines.

The eastern Carolines were probably settled earlier than the 2nd century ce, and there is evidence indicating that Chinese trade goods had reached the western islands by the 7th century. Visited in the 16th century by Spanish navigators who named the islands for their king, Charles II, the Carolines were colonized by Spain only in the 19th century. They were sold to Germany after the Spanish-American War (1898), but in 1914 they were seized by Japan, which held them after 1919 as a League of Nations mandate. During World War II the islands, which had been heavily fortified by Japan, were occupied by the United States; in 1947 they became part of a UN trust territory under U.S. jurisdiction. The trust territory was dissolved in 1986.

Copra is the chief export, with handicrafts second. Tourism has been encouraged. The high western islands were mined during Japanese occupation. Some islands support tuna fishing, which has grown in importance because of the 200-mile (320-km) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around each island group.

Great diversity of physical types, cultures, and languages prevails within the Carolines, with the western islands exhibiting an intermingling of Melanesian and Philippine influences and the eastern showing Polynesian characteristics. Nukuoro and Kapingamarangi atolls, part of the Federated States of Micronesia, represent western outliers of Polynesian culture. Pop. (2007 est.) 131,200.