pop (2000e) 82 000; area 264 km²/102 sq mi. Main island group of Kiribati, C Pacific Ocean; chain of 17 coral atolls spread over c.680 km/420 mi; mainly 200300 m/7001000 ft wide, but 15100 km/1060 mi long; most have central lagoons; part of the British colony of Gilbert and Ellice Is until 1977; capital, Tarawa; fishing, farming, copra, phosphate.
The Gilbert Islands are a chain of 16 atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean, main part of the nation Kiribati ("Kiribati" is the rendition of "Gilberts" in the Kiribati language).
The Gilberts had been inhabited by Micronesians for several centuries before they were discovered by Europeans.
One of the first recorded discoveries of the islands by Europeans dates back to 1765 when Commander John Byron in the ship Dolphin discovered the island of Nikunau. In the years that followed, many ships ran across the little islands and atolls of the Gilberts in the course of their travels in the central Pacific. Two ships of the United States Exploring Expedition, Peacock and Flying Fish, under the command of Captain Hudson, visited many of the Gilbert Islands (then Kingsmill Islands).
A British protectorate was first proclaimed over the Gilberts by Captain Davis of HMS Royalist on 27 May 1892. In 1915 the Gilbert and Ellice Islands were proclaimed a colony of the British Empire.
The natives of the Gilbert Islands are Micronesian, similar in many respects to the natives of the Marshalls, the Carolines, and the Marianas.
The principal industry found in the Gilberts was the production of phosphate from the deposits on Ocean Island and Fanning Island. Sanitary inspections by the British did much to improve the general living conditions on most of the islands.
Native diet prior to World War II consisted mainly of fish, coconuts, pandanus fruit, babai, chicken, and some pork.
At the outbreak of the war, about 78% of the native population were said to be Christians.
Judged to be about 84% literate, the Gilbertese responded readily to the colony's educational efforts. All education in the islands came under the supervision of the Colonial Education Department whose aims were to educate native boys for employment in government and commercial work, and to standardize the level of education throughout the colony. The Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme sought to provide an outlet through the development of three uninhabited atolls in the Phoenix Islands and was the last attempt at human colonization within the British Empire.
World War II
When war came in December 1941, the Japanese occupied Makin Atoll immediately and raided Tarawa.
On 17 August 1942, 221 U.S. Marines of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion were landed on Makin from two submarines. However, it had the effect of alerting the Japanese to the strategic importance of the Gilbert Islands and led to their reinforcement and fortification.
Tarawa and Apamama were occupied in force by the Japanese in September 1942 and during the next year garrisons were built up on Betio (Tarawa Atoll), and Butaritari (Makin Atoll). Only nominal forces were placed on other islands in the Gilberts.
On 20 November 1943, the U.S. 2nd Marine Division invaded, in the battles of Makin and bloody Tarawa. The Gilbert Islands were used to support the invasion of the Marshall Islands in February 1944.
1944 -
The colony became autonomous in 1971.
The atolls and islands are arranged in an approximate north-to-south line.
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