Christmas Island was first sighted by Europeans in 1615 and was rediscovered on Christmas Day, 1643, by English navigators. The island lies 200 miles (320 km) south of the Indonesian island of Java. Following the discovery that much of the island is pure lime phosphate, Great Britain annexed it in 1888; in 1900, the British attached Christmas Island to the administration of Singapore. Phosphate mining commenced in the 1890s, employing imported Chinese and Malay labor. In 1958, Great Britain ceded the island to Australia. Christmas Island is now an Australian external territory; since 1968, the Australian government is represented on the island by an administrator. Despite mining activities, most of the island is still tropical rain forest. Attempts to establish a tourist industry have met with mixed success, and the population is rapidly declining as phosphate reserves near exhaustion. The Australian authorities have used the island to detain and process asylum seekers from Asia who wish to enter Australia.COUNTRY PROFILE
FLAG
The flag flown by Christmas Island is divided into two triangles: a green triangle at the top and a blue triangle at the base. Blue represents the ocean, while green represents the rain forest. A gold disk at the center of the flag displays a green silhouette of the island. Both of the triangles display emblems. The green triangle has an outline of the golden bosun bird, which is native to the island. The blue triangle displays the Southern Cross stars from the national flag of Australia. The flag is the winning design in a competition in 1986 and has been unofficially adopted, although it has not yet been officially recognized by Australia. The Australian authorities on the island fly the national flag of Australia.
GEOGRAPHY
SETTLEMENTS, 2001 POPULATION
POPULATION
ECONOMY
GOVERNMENT
TRANSPORTATION
POPULATION PROFILE, 2001 ESTIMATES
