This article is about the Indian Ocean territory of Australia named Christmas Island. For the island of the same name also known as Kiritimati in the Line Islands of the Pacific Ocean, see Kiribati.

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Quick Facts
Capital	The Settlement
Government	territory of Australia
Currency	Australian dollar (AUD)
Area	135 sq km
Population	1,493 (July 2006 est.)
Language	English (official), Chinese, Malay
Religion	Buddhist 36%, Muslim 25%, Christian 18%, other 21%
Calling Code	+61 (Australia)
Internet TLD	.cx
Time Zone	UTC +7

Christmas Island [1] is one of the islands of the Indian Ocean, south of Indonesia and some distance northwest of Australia, of which is it a territory.

Regions

Cities

Other destinations

Understand

Named in 1643 for the day of its discovery, the island was annexed and settlement was begun by the UK in 1888. Phosphate mining began in the 1890s. The UK transferred sovereignty to Australia in 1958. Almost two-thirds of the island has been declared a national park.

The Australian Government in 2001 agreed to support the creation of a commercial space-launching site on the island, projected to begin operations in the near future.

Climate

Tropical; heat and humidity moderated by trade winds.

Landscape

Steep cliffs along coast rise abruptly to central plateau.

Get in

By plane

Weekly flights from Singapore with AustAsia Airlines

Twice weekly flights from Perth, Australia with National Jet Systems, who also offer a connecting flight to Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

By boat

The harbor is Flying Fish Cove.

Get around

Talk

As a territory of Australia, English is the most common language spoken on Christmas Island. Other languages which may be useful include Chinese and Malay.

Buy

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Seven possibilities for accomodation exist on the island, five of which are in the main settlement. Of the other two, one is located next to the islands waterfall whilst the other is further out in an area called Poon Saan.

Learn

Work

Stay safe

Stay healthy

Respect

Contact