Kiritimati

Kiritimati is a vast coral atoll in the northern Line Islands, with a lagoon divided into smaller basins, salt ponds and tidal flats. Its broad lagoon and salt flats shaped access from the sea. Human use dates from about 1250 to 1450. Habitation sites, marae and canoe shelters cluster on the windward eastern shore; intermittent layers of occupation suggest seasonal visits by Polynesian voyagers to gather birds and turtles.

A Spanish expedition under Hernando de Grijalva charted the atoll as Acea in 1537. James Cook arrived on Christmas Eve in 1777, giving the English name Christmas Island; Gilbertsese later rendered it as Kiritimati. Whalers visited from at least 1822. The island remained chiefly a staging and supply place of ocean crossings, temporary camps and foraging before permanent settlement.