Line Islands: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

The Line Islands are a group of mostly atolls in the central Pacific Ocean, south of the Hawaiian Islands.

The Line Islands form the time zone with the latest time in the world: UTC + 14. The time of the day is the same as in Hawai'i, but one day ahead, and even 25 hours ahead of some other islands in Oceania.

Geography and Location

Aerial map

Northern Line Islands

The Northern Line Islands lie between the equator and 6°N, and about 160°W. A few belong to the United States, but most are now part of the Republic of Kiribati. They include:

Kiribati possessions:

• Kiritimati (Christmas Atoll),
• Tabuaeran (Fanning Atoll),
• Teraina (Washington Atoll),

Kiritimati is probably the largest atoll in the Pacific (it is about 90 miles in circuit and has the greatest land area of any atoll in the world), and was discovered by Captain Cook in 1777. The islands were annexed by Britain in 1888 with a view to laying the Pacific cable with Tabuaeran (then Fanning Island) as a relay station. That cable functioned between 1902 and 1963 except for a short period in 1914 when German naval forces landed at Fanning to cut the cable.

Lagoon shore at Fanning Atoll

The total population of the three islands in 1900 was about 300. Currently there are about 5,300 people on Kiritimati, 1,800 on Tabuaeran, and 2,000 on Teraina (formerly Washington Island) for a total of 9,100 on the Kiribatese portion.

Copra is the only export product.

The American possessions in the Northern Line Islands are uninhabited:

• Palmyra Atoll
• Kingman Reef

The Southern Line Islands are all uninhabited.

Kiribati possessions:

• Malden Island,
• Starbuck Island,
• Flint Island,
• Vostok Island and
• Caroline Island.

The one American island in this group is uninhabited:

• Jarvis Island