Christmas Island-English Introduction

The territory of Christmas Island is Australia's territory in the Indian Ocean. It is located 2600 kilometers (1600 miles) northwest of Perth, a western Australian city, 500 kilometers (3 10 miles) south of Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, and 975 kilometers (606 miles) east of Corcos (Keeling) Islands.

The population is about 1 600, living in some "settlement areas" at the northern end of the island: Feiyu Bay (also known as Pound), Yincheng, Pansan and Drumster.

The geographical isolation of the island and the least human interference in history have led to the high uniqueness of its flora and fauna, which is of great interest to scientists and naturalists. [2]

Phosphate exists in the form of bird droppings and has been mined on the island for many years. 63% of its 135 square kilometers (52 square miles) is a national park with a large area of virgin rainforest.

history

/kloc-At the beginning of the 7th century, British and Dutch navigators first listed the island in their nautical charts, and William Minos, the captain of the British East India Company's ship "Royal Mary", named the island on1February 25th when he arrived at Christmas. [3] The island first appeared on the map drawn by Peter Goose and published in 1666. The Global Ocean Observing System has put a currency label on the island. [4]

The earliest recorded visit was in March 1688, when William Dampier of the British ship Little Swan found it uninhabited. [5] A record of this visit can be found in Dampier's Voyage, which describes that when he tried to reach Corcos from New Holland, his ship deviated from the course and sailed eastward, and arrived at Christmas Island 28 days later. Dampier landed in the valley (west coast), and his two crew members were the first recorded people to set foot on Christmas Island.

The next visit was Daniel beekman, who described this visit in his book 17 18, Sailing to and from Borneo Island in the East Indies.

human

As of 2006, the estimated population is 65,438+0,493. (Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that as of the 5438+0 census in 2006, the population was 1 508. )

Ethnic composition: 70% Chinese (mainly Cantonese), 20% European, 10% Malay. The religions on Christmas Island include Buddhism 75%, Christianity 12%, Islam 10% and other 3%. English is the official language, but Cantonese and Malay are also spoken. English and Cantonese are both lingua franca.

[show] v? d？ Oceania demography

Sovereign country Australia East Timor 1 Fiji Indonesia 1 Kiribati Papua New Guinea Marshall Islands Micronesia Federated States Nauru New Zealand Palau Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu

Dependence sum

Other Territories American Samoa Christmas Island Corcos Cook Islands French Polynesia Guam Hawaii New Caledonia Niue norfolk island Northern Mariana Islands Pitcairn Island Tokelau Islands wallis islands and Futuna Islands

1 transcontinental countries.

[edit] stamps

Main articles: stamps and postal history of Christmas Island.

On the island, a postal agency opened at 190 1 to sell stamps of the Straits Colony. [9]

After the Japanese occupation (1942–1945), stamps of the British military authorities in Malaya began to be used, followed by stamps of Singapore. [ 10]

1958, the island received its own stamps after being entrusted by Australia. It has great philatelic and postal independence, first managed by the Phosphate Committee (1958–1969) and then managed by the island administration (1969–1993). [9] This matter ended on March 2 1993, and Australia Post became the postal operator of the island: Christmas Island stamps can be used in Australia, and Australian stamps can also be used on the island. [ 10]

[Editor] Government

Christmas Island is a Non-Self-Governing Territory of Australia, which is administered by the Ministry of Justice [1 1] (before 20071/29/month [12], it was administered by the Department of Transport and Regional Services). The legal system is governed by the Governor-General of Australia and Australian laws. A Chief Executive appointed by the Governor (Neil Lucas, since 28th, 2006 1 month) represents the monarch and Australia.

The Australian government provides federal government services through the Christmas Island Authority and the Ministry of Infrastructure. No state government; On the contrary, state government services are provided by contractors, including departments of the Western Australian government, and the expenses are borne by the Australian (federal) government. The unicameral county of Christmas Island has nine seats and provides local government services. It is elected by universal suffrage for a term of four years. Elections are held every two years, and half of the members run for office.

Christmas Island residents who are Australian citizens also vote in federal elections. Christmas Island residents are represented in the House of Representatives by Lingiari Branch of Northern Territory and in the Senate by Northern Territory Senators.

At the beginning of 1986, the Christmas Island Congress held a design competition for the island flag; The winning design has been used as the unofficial flag of the territory for more than ten years and became the official flag of Christmas Island in 2002.

[edit] economy

Phosphate mining is the only important economic activity, but the Australian government closed the mine in1February 1987. 199 1 year, the mine was reopened by a consortium including many former miners as shareholders. With the support of the government, a $34 million casino opened in 1993, but it was closed in 1998 and has not reopened yet. In 20001year, the Australian government agreed to support the establishment of a commercial space port on the island, but this has not yet been built and it seems that it will not be carried out in the future. In 200 1 year, Howard government built a temporary immigration detention center on the island, and planned to replace it with a larger and more modern facility in the northwest corner until Howard lost in the 2007 general election.

[edit] geography

Christmas island is located at east longitude 10 30? / ? 10.5 S 105.667 E？ / - 10.5; 105.667, the island is a quadrilateral with four hollow sides, the longest is about 19 km (12 mile) and the widest is about 14.5 km (9.0 mile). The total land area is 135 square kilometers (52 square miles) and the coastline is 138.9 kilometers (86.3 miles). The island is the flat top of an undersea mountain range over 4,500m (15,000ft), and its platform rises to a depth of about 4,200m (14,000ft), and its height above the sea is over 300m (980ft). [14] This mountain was originally a volcano, with some basalt exposed in valleys and Dolly Beach, but most of the surface rocks are limestone accumulated by corals after millions of years of growth. [ 15]

The climate is tropical, and the heat and humidity are reduced by trade winds. The steep cliffs along most of the coast suddenly rose to the central plateau. The elevation of Mount Murray ranges from sea level to 36 1 m (1, 180 ft). The island is mainly a tropical rain forest, 63% of which is a national park.

The narrow reef around the island may be a hidden danger at sea.

Christmas Island is located 500 kilometers (3 10 miles) south of Indonesia and about 2,600 kilometers (1 0,600 miles) northwest of Perth.

[Editor] Animals and Plants

See also: Birds on Christmas Island.

coconut crab

Christmas Island Red Crab

Red-footed boobies

Ordinary node

Brown booby island has great scientific value, because it was not inhabited until the late 19th century, so there are many unique animal and plant species, which evolved independently without human interference. Since people settled on the island, two kinds of local mice, Maclear's and Bulldog Rat, have been extinct, while shrews have not appeared since the mid-1980s, and Pipistrelle, a small bat on Christmas Island, is in an extremely endangered state. Two-thirds of the island has been declared a national park, which is managed by the Australian Department of Environment and Heritage through Australian Parks.

Dense rainforests evolved from the deep soil of plateaus and terraces. These forests are mainly composed of 25 tree species. Pteridophytes, orchids and vines grow on branches in the humid air under the canopy. 135 Plant species include 16 plants found only on Christmas Island.

The annual large-scale migration of red crabs (about1100,000 animals) to the sea to lay eggs is called one of the wonders of nature [16], which occurs around 1 1 month every year; After the rainy season begins, synchronize with the moon cycle.

Land crabs and seabirds are the most striking animals on the island. Twenty species of terrestrial and intertidal crabs have been described (among them, 13 species are considered as real terrestrial crabs, and their larval development only depends on the sea). Robber crabs, known as coconut crabs elsewhere, also exist in large numbers on the island.

Christmas Island is a gathering place for all kinds of seabirds. Eight species or subspecies of seabirds nest on the island. The largest number is red-footed boobies, which nest in groups, in trees and in many places on coastal terraces. Widely distributed brown boobies nest on the ground near the edge of coastal and inland cliffs. Abbott boobies (plum is listed as an endangered species) nest in tall emergent trees in the western, northern and southern plateau rainforests. Christmas Island Forest is the only remaining nesting habitat of Albert boobies in the world. The endemic Christmas Island frigate birds (listed as endangered species) nest on the northeast coastal terraces and more widely. Large frigate birds nest in semi-deciduous trees on coastal terraces, and the most concentrated places are in the northwest and south corners. Common storks and two kinds of storks or tropical birds with shiny gold or silver feathers and distinctive streamer tail feathers also nest on the island. Among 10 native land birds and shore birds, 7 species are endemic or subspecies. There are about 86 species of migratory birds recorded.

[Editor] Transportation

The telephone service is provided by Telstra, which is part of the Australian network and has the same prefix as that of Western Australia (08). In February 2005, GSM mobile phone system replaced the old analog network. Australia's four free TV stations (ABC, SBS, GWN and WIN) are in the same time zone as Perth. Radio broadcasts in Australia include ABC National Radio, ABC Regional Radio and Red FM Radio. All services are provided by satellite lines on the mainland. In mid-2005, users in urban areas could use broadband Internet through local Internet service provider CIIA (formerly dotCX).

Christmas Island, because it is close to its neighbors in northern Australia, belongs to many more "interesting" satellite footprints in the whole region. This provides ideal conditions for receiving various Asian broadcasts, and locals sometimes prefer the content provided by Western Australia. In addition, ionospheric conditions usually indicate many more terrestrial radio transmissions-high frequency to VHF, sometimes at UHF. There is a small group of radio equipment on the island. Obviously, they cover a large part of the available spectrum. Various government-owned and operated antenna systems are used on the island to take advantage of this.

There is a container port in Feiyu Bay, and there is a container unloading point at Norris Point in the south of the island for1"high tide season" with seasonal rough waves from February to March.

19 14 built a 18 km standard gauge railway from Feiyuwan to Phosphate Mine. When the Australian government closed the coal mine, it closed on1February 65438+ 0987, but it remained basically intact.

There are three flights a week from Perth, Western Australia to Christmas Island Airport (via RAAF Learmonth), and a charter flight takes off from Malaysia every Saturday and is operated by Malaysia Airlines.

Christmas Island County has opened a new recreation center on Phosphate Mountain. And taxi service. The road network covers most of the island, and the overall quality is good, but it takes four-wheel drive vehicles to reach some farther places in the rainforest or more remote beaches, which can only be reached by rough dirt roads.

[edit]