A map of Christmas Island This is an old map as the dark line running verically through the island represents a railway from South Point to Drumsite, but this was removed in the early 1990's.Christmas Island is located in the Indian Ocean off the Western Australian coast. It is closer to Indonesia than it is to Australia being 380km from Jakarta, 2600km from Perth, 2800km from Darwin and 1300km from Singapore.
The co-ordinates for the island is 105º40′East and 10º35′South.
It rises sharply from the ocean floor which has been estimated to be between five to seven kilometres below sea level. The abrupt drop in the seabed is known locally as the drop off.
I live on a rock in the Indian Ocean known as Christmas Island, an unusal paradise. From the air, this island is shaped like a dog, facing east with the main island settlement situated just behind the ears.
The climate on the island is mild with temperatures ranging from 20ºC to 30ºC with 80% or greater humidity all year round. There are two distinct seasons of the year; a dry season (April to November) and a wet season (December to March). The annual rainfall is approximately two metres.
Christmas Island is not similar to other typical tropical islands with coconut palms on white sandy beaches. Christmas Island has has shear cliffs of limestone and dead coral that rise from the ocean to heights of 20 to 50 metres then leveling off into rain forest plateaus. However, there are about eleven beaches where sand and rocks have replaced the cliff face.
The island is surrounded by coral reefs to the edge of the drop off when the sea bed rapidly drops to depths of 5,000 to 7,000 metres. This feature of the island provides an excellent environment for snorkeling and scuba diving enthusiasts. The waters are warm, safe and there is an abundance of marine life to swim with, including whale sharks.
The first recorded sightings of Christmas Island was by John Milward on board his sailing vessel Thomas in 1615. It was not until Christmas Day in 1643 when the island was named by Captain William Mynors. The first recorded landing was not until 1688 by William Dampier.
The island was not visited on a regular basis until the 1820's when John Clunies-Ross collected timber and soil for his settlement on the Cocos-Keeling Islands, situated 930kms south west west of Christmas Island.
Soon after these visits by John Clunies-Ross, phosphate was discovered on the island and in 1888, the British government annexed the island and placed it under the control of the Straits Settlement. The first settlers were the grandsons of John Clunies-Ross, George and Andrew, and their families . This settlement was at Flying Fish Cove.
In 1895 the first phosphate was extracted and shipped to England.
Today, the population of Christmas Island consists of three main cultures, Chinese (60%), Malay and Indonesian (25%) and Caucasion (15%).
