Abaiang

Template: Infobox Atoll / Maintenance / height Missing

Abaiang (formerly Charlotte Iceland ), also Apaiang or Apia, is located close to the equator in the western central Pacific Ocean coral atoll in Kiribati.

Geography

Abaiang consists of 15 small islands of the northern Gilbert islands with a total land area of ​​only 17.48 km ². The central lagoon, with the main passage to the open sea to the west, on the other hand has an area of ​​about 208 km ².

History

Was discovered the atoll in 1788 by Captain Thomas Gilbert, who named it Matthew's Iceland after the owner of his ship Charlotte. The lagoon he gave the name Charlotte Bay. Later the atoll as Charlotte Iceland was known.

The first significant missionary who visited Abaiang, the American Hiram Bingham was; this reached in November 1857 on the mission ship Morningstar along with his wife Clara and the Hawaiian auxiliary missionary Kanoa and his wife, the atoll on which the Protestant missionaries of the Gilbert Islands began.

During the Second World War, the Japanese occupied the atoll from December 1941 to November 1943.

Population

According to the census of 2010 living on Abaiang 5502 people. The population has remained constant since 2005.

Vital statistics

Demographics

Culture

Monument to Hiram Bingham II, the beginning of the Christianization of 1857

Abaiang Council Office

View of the cathedral

Traffic

In the middle part of the main island Abaiang the regional airfield Abaiang Atoll Airport is located between the settlements Tabwiroa and Tuarabu, not far from the main town Taburao.

Abaing is serviced twice a week by Air Kiribati from the hub Bonriki International Airport in South Tarawa; from January 2009, three times a week by the newly established private airline Coral Sun Airways. The flight takes just 7 minutes.

Its proximity to the capital of South Tarawa Kiribati Abaiang is frequently run as a tourist destination of speedboats over ports in Betio and Bairiki.

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