有这么个神奇的岛屿。名叫圣诞岛。那住在圣诞岛上的人是不是每天都过圣诞节啊？哈哈

百科名片

The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, 500 km (310 mi) south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and 975 km (606 mi) ENE of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

It has a population of approximately 1,600 residents who live in a number of "settlement areas" on the northern tip of the island: Flying Fish Cove (also known as Kampong), Silver City, Poon Saan, and Drumsite.

The island’s geographic isolation and history of minimal human disturbance has led to a high level of endemism amongst its flora and fauna, which is of significant interest to scientists and naturalists.[2]

Phosphate, deposited as Guano, has been mined on the island for many years. 63% of its 135 square kilometres (52 sq mi) is National Park and there are large areas of primary rainforest.

History
British and Dutch navigators first included the island on their charts in the early seventeenth century, and Captain William Mynors of the British East India Company vessel, the Royal Mary, named the island when he arrived on Christmas Day, 25 December 1643.[3] The island first appears on a map produced by Pieter Goos and published in 1666. Goos had labelled the island Mony.[4]

The earliest recorded visit was in March 1688 by William Dampier of the British ship Cygnet, who found it uninhabited.[5] An account of the visit can be found in Dampier's Voyages, which describes how, when trying to reach Cocos from New Holland, his ship was pulled off course in an easterly direction and after 28 days arrived at Christmas Island. Dampier landed at the Dales (on the West Coast) and two of his crewmen were the first recorded people to set foot on Christmas Island.

The next visit was by Daniel Beekman, who described it in his 1718 book, A Voyage to and from the Island of Borneo, in the East Indies.


People
As of 2006, the estimated population is 1,493. (The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports a population of 1,508 as of the 2001 Census.)

The ethnic composition is 70% Chinese (mainly Cantonese), 20% European and 10% Malay. Religions practised on Christmas Island include Buddhism 75%, Christianity 12%, Islam 10% and others 3%. English is the official language, but Cantonese and Malay are also spoken. Both English and Cantonese are lingua franca.

[show]v • d • eDemographics of Oceania

Sovereign states Australia · East Timor1 · Fiji · Indonesia1 · Kiribati · Papua New Guinea · Marshall Islands · Federated States of Micronesia · Nauru · New Zealand · Palau · Samoa · Solomon Islands · Tonga · Tuvalu · Vanuatu


Dependencies and
other territories American Samoa · Christmas Island · Cocos (Keeling) Islands · Cook Islands · French Polynesia · Guam · Hawaii · New Caledonia · Niue · Norfolk Island · Northern Mariana Islands · Pitcairn Islands · Tokelau · Wallis and Futuna


1 Transcontinental country.



[edit] Postage stamps
Main article: Postage stamps and postal history of Christmas Island
A postal agency was opened on the island in 1901 and sold stamps of the Strait Settlements.[9]

After the Japanese Occupation (1942–1945), postage stamps of the British Military Administration in Malaya were in use, then stamps of Singapore.[10]

In 1958, the island received its own postage stamps after being put under Australian custody. It had a large philatelic and postal independence, managed first by the Phosphate Commission (1958–1969) and then by the Island's Administration (1969–1993).[9] This ended on 2 March 1993 when Australia Post became the island's postal operator: stamps of Christmas Island can be used in Australia and Australian stamps in the island.[10]


[edit] Government
Christmas Island is a non-self governing territory of Australia, administered by the Attorney-General's Department[11] (before November 29, 2007[12] administration was carried out by the Department of Transport and Regional Services). The legal system is under the authority of the Governor-General of Australia and Australian law. An Administrator (Neil Lucas, since 28 January 2006) appointed by the Governor-General represents the monarch and Australia.

The Australian Government provides Commonwealth-level government services through the Christmas Island Administration and the Department of Infrastructure. There is no state government; instead, state government type services are provided by contractors, including departments of the Western Australian Government, with the costs met by the Australian (Commonwealth) Government. A unicameral Shire of Christmas Island with 9 seats provides local government services and is elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. Elections are held every two years, with half the members standing for election.

Christmas Island residents who are Australian citizens also vote in Commonwealth (federal) elections. Christmas Island residents are represented in the House of Representatives through the Northern Territory Division of Lingiari and in the Senate by Northern Territory Senators.

In early 1986, the Christmas Island Assembly held a design competition for an island flag; the winning design was adopted as the informal flag of the territory for over a decade, and in 2002 it was made the official flag of Christmas Island.


[edit] Economy
Phosphate mining had been the only significant economic activity, but in December 1987 the Australian Government closed the mine. In 1991, the mine was reopened by a consortium which included many of the former mine workers as shareholders. With the support of the government, a $34 million casino opened in 1993, but was closed in 1998 and has not re-opened. The Australian Government in 2001 agreed to support the creation of a commercial spaceport on the island, however this has not yet been constructed, and appears that it will not proceed in the future. The Howard Government built a temporary immigration detention centre on the island in 2001 and planned to replace it with a larger, modern facility located at North West Point until Howard's defeat in the 2007 elections.


[edit] Geography

Christmas IslandLocated at 10°30′S 105°40′E / 10.5°S 105.667°E / -10.5; 105.667, the island is a quadrilateral with hollowed sides, about 19 kilometres (12 mi) in greatest length and 14.5 km (9.0 mi) in extreme breadth. The total land area is 135 square kilometres (52 sq mi), with 138.9 km (86.3 mi) of coastline. The island is the flat summit of a submarine mountain more than 4,500 metres (15,000 ft),[13] the depth of the platform from which it rises being about 4,200 m (14,000 ft) and its height above the sea being upwards of 300 m (980 ft).[14] The mountain was originally a volcano, and some basalt is exposed in places such as The Dales and Dolly Beach, but most of the surface rock is limestone accumulated from the growth of coral over millions of years.[15]

The climate is tropical, with heat and humidity moderated by trade winds. Steep cliffs along much of the coast rise abruptly to a central plateau. Elevation ranges from sea level to 361 m (1,180 ft) at Murray Hill. The island is mainly tropical rainforest, of which 63% is National Park.

The narrow fringing reef surrounding the island can be a maritime hazard.

Christmas Island is 500 km (310 mi) south of Indonesia and about 2,600 km (1,600 mi) northwest of Perth.


[edit] Flora and fauna
See also: Birds of Christmas Island

Coconut crab
Christmas Island red crab
Red-footed Boobies
Common Noddy
Brown BoobyChristmas Island is of immense scientific value as it was uninhabited until the late nineteenth century, so many unique species of fauna and flora exist which have evolved independently of human interference. Two species of native rats, the Maclear's and Bulldog Rat have gone extinct since the island was settled, the species of shrew has not been seen since the mid 1980s and may be already extinct, and the Christmas Island Pipistrelle, a small bat is critically endangered. Two-thirds of the island has been declared a National Park which is managed by the Australian Department of Environment and Heritage through Parks Australia.

The dense rainforest has evolved in the deep soils of the plateau and on the terraces. The forests are dominated by twenty-five tree species. Ferns, orchids and vines grow on the branches in the humid atmosphere beneath the canopy. The 135 plant species include sixteen which are found only on Christmas Island.

The annual red crab mass migration (around 100 million animals) to the sea to spawn has been called one of the wonders of the natural world[16] and takes place each year around November; after the start of the wet season and in synchronisation with the cycle of the moon.

The land crabs and sea birds are the most noticeable animals on the island. Twenty terrestrial and intertidal species of crab (of which thirteen are regarded as true land crabs, only dependent on the ocean for larval development) have been described. Robber crabs, known elsewhere as coconut crabs, also exist in large numbers on the island.

Christmas Island is a focal point for sea birds of various species. Eight species or subspecies of sea birds nest on the island. The most numerous is the Red-footed Booby that nests in colonies, in trees, on many parts of the shore terrace. The widespread Brown Booby nests on the ground near the edge of the seacliff and inland cliffs. Abbott's Booby (listed as endangered) nests on tall emergent trees of the western, northern and southern plateau rainforest. The Christmas Island forest is the only nesting habitat of the Abbott's Booby left in the world. The endemic Christmas Island Frigatebird (listed as endangered) has nesting areas on the north-eastern shore terraces and the more widespread. Great Frigatebirds nest in semi-deciduous trees on the shore terrace with the greatest concentrations being in the North West and South Point areas. The Common Noddy and two species of bosuns or tropicbirds, with their brilliant gold or silver plumage and distinctive streamer tail feathers, also nest on the island. Of the ten native land birds and shorebirds, seven are endemic species or subspecies. Some 86 migrant bird species have been recorded.


[edit] Communications and transportation
Telephone services are provided by Telstra and are a part of the Australian network with the same prefix as Western Australia (08). A GSM mobile telephone system replaced the old analogue network in February 2005. Four free-to-air television stations from Australia are broadcast (ABC, SBS, GWN and WIN) in the same time-zone as Perth. Radio broadcasts from Australia include ABC Radio National, ABC Regional radio and Red FM. All services are provided by satellite links from the mainland. Broadband internet became available to subscribers in urban areas in mid 2005 through the local internet service provider, CIIA (formerly dotCX).

Christmas Island, due to its close proximity to Australia's northern neighbours, falls within many of the more 'interesting' satellite footprints throughout the region. This results in ideal conditions for receiving various Asian broadcasts which locals sometimes prefer to the West Australian provided content. Additionally, ionospheric conditions usually bode well for many of the more terrestrial radio transmissions - HF right up through VHF and sometimes in to UHF. The island plays home to a small array of radio equipment that, evidently, spans a good chunk of the usable spectrum. A variety of government owned and operated antenna systems are employed on the island to take advantage of this.

A container port exists at Flying Fish Cove with an alternative container unloading point to the south of the island at Norris Point for use during the December to March 'swell season" of seasonal rough seas.

An 18 km standard gauge railway from Flying Fish Cove to the phosphate mine was constructed in 1914. It was closed in December 1987 when the Australian Government closed the mine but remains largely intact.

There are three weekly flights into Christmas Island Airport from Perth, Western Australia (via RAAF Learmonth) and a weekly charter flight from Malaysia operated by Malaysia Airlines on Saturdays.

There is a new recreation centre at Phosphate Hill operated by the Shire of Christmas Island. There is also a taxi service. The road network covers most of the island and is generally good quality, although four wheel drive vehicles are needed to access some more distant parts of the rain forest or the more isolated beaches, which are only accessible by rough dirt roads.