Phoenix Islands

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Phoenix Islands

Native name: Rawaki
Phoenix Islands Show map of Kiribati Phoenix Islands Show map of Oceania Phoenix Islands Show map of Pacific Ocean
Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	4°30′S 172°0′W / 4.500°S 172.000°W / -4.500; -172.000
Area	32.3 km2 (12.5 sq mi)
Kiribati
Administrative division	None
Largest Island settlement	Canton Island (pop. 20)
United States
Status	Unincorporated (Howland and Baker Islands)

The Phoenix Islands,^[1] or Rawaki, are a group of eight atolls and two submerged coral reefs that lie east of the Gilbert Islands and west of the Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean, north of Samoa. They are part of the Republic of Kiribati. Their combined land area is 28 square kilometres (11 sq mi). The only island of any commercial importance is Canton Island (also called Abariringa). The other islands are Enderbury, Rawaki (formerly Phoenix), Manra (formerly Sydney), Birnie, McKean, Nikumaroro (formerly Gardner), and Orona (formerly Hull).

The Phoenix Islands Protected Area, established in 2008, is one of the world's largest protected areas and is home to about 120 species of coral and more than 500 species of fish. All of the Phoenix Islands are uninhabited, except for a few families who live on Canton Island.

At various times in history, the Phoenix Islands have been considered part of the Gilberts Island group (which itself was sometimes known as the Kingsmill island group).

Geographically, Baker Island and Howland Island, two unincorporated territories of the United States that lie to the north of the Phoenix Islands, could be considered part of the same island group as the Phoenix Islands. However, politically, and for statistical compilation purposes, Howland and Baker are considered part of the group known as the United States Minor Outlying Islands.

At one time, the United States laid claim to all the Phoenix Islands under the 1856 Guano Islands Act. However, when Kiribati became an independent republic in 1979, the United States and Kiribati signed the Treaty of Tarawa, under which the United States released all claims to the Phoenix Islands (except for Baker and Howland), which thenceforth became recognized as part of Kiribati.

The Phoenix Islands began to be known by that name sometime around the 1840s, as a generalization from one of the islands in the group, which had been named Phoenix Island earlier in the century (probably because Phoenix was a common name for the whaling ships that frequented the nearby waters at the time).

During the late 1930s, the Phoenix Islands were the site of the last colonial expansion attempted by the British Empire (through the Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme).