Line Islands
Lying astride the Equator and the International Date Line due south of Hawaii, stretching for 2,350 kilometres from northwest to southeast, the Line Islands (a.k.a. the Teraina Islands or the Equatorial Islands) are one of the world's longest island chains. Eight of the eleven atolls — most of them with partly or fully enclosed lagoons - lie within the borders of Kiribati. The remaining three—Jarvis Island, Kingman Reef, and Palmyra Atoll—are United States territories.
Although only three of the islands — Kiritimati, Tabuaeran, and Teraina —have a permanent population, and none had permanent inhabitants before European colonisation, archaeologists have identified the remains of coral Marae platforms on Kiritimati and Tabuaeran atolls, Teraina Island, Malden, Millennium Atoll and Flint Island. These remains date back as far as the 14th century and show that the islands had permanent, or semi-permanent residents before James Cook landed on Christmas Island (1777), and Captain Fanning visited Teraina and Tabuaeran (1798).
Whaling ships in search of water, wood and provisions were regular visitors to the islands through the early 19th century, with the first recorded visit to one of them being the Coquette, which called at Christmas Island in 1822.
British plans to lay a telegraph cable saw Tabuaeran (Fanning Island) annexed to be used as as one of the cable's relay stations in 1888. The cable operated between 1902 and 1963 except for a short period at the start of World War I. Great Britain subsequently annexed Fanning and Washington Islands (1916) and Christmas Island (1919), incorporating them into the Gilbert and Ellice Islands.
Geographically, the Line Islands are divided into three subgroups: the Northern, Central, and Southern Line Islands. The Central and Southern Islands are uninhabited.
Northern Line Islands (Fanning's Group)
- Kingman Reef (U.S. territory)
- Palmyra Atoll (U.S. territory)
- Teraina (Washington Island) (Kiribati)
- Tabuaeran (Fanning Island) (Kiribati)
- Kiritimati (Christmas Island) (Kiribati) has the largest land area of any atoll in the world.
Central Line Islands
- Jarvis Island (U.S. territory)
- Malden Island (Kiribati)
- Starbuck Island (Kiribati) is near the geographic centre of the Pacific Ocean (4°58′S 158°45′W).
Southern Line Islands
- Millennium Island (Caroline Island) (Kiribati)
- Vostok Island (Kiribati)
- Flint Island (Kiribati)
