Facts about Christmas Island in Australia: It's No More Than 1,000 Km from Jakarta

Christmas Island is a small island located in the Indian Ocean and is part of Australia's administrative territory. This outermost island of Australia is actually closer to Indonesia than to the mainland of Kangaroo Island.

Yes, geographically, Christmas Island is about 500-600 km from Indonesia (Jakarta). Meanwhile, if measured to Perth (Australia), the distance from Christmas Island to there is about 2,600 km.

Besides the distance, there are other interesting facts about Christmas Island. What are they?

1. Found at Christmas

Christmas Island was first discovered by the English ship, Royal Mary on December 25, 1643. Although discovered in the 17th century, the island was not significantly inhabited until the late 19th century, particularly after rich phosphate deposits were found.

In 1888, England claimed the island and began mining phosphate. Then, in 1958, sovereignty over the island was handed over to Australia, and it has since become an external territory administered by the federal government of Australia.

2. Consisting of Multiethnic

Christmas Island has a population of about 2,000 people, with three main ethnic groups:

• Chinese – the largest community, many of whom practice Buddhism, Taoism, and Christianity.

• Malay – mostly Muslim.

• European (Australian/English descent) – generally Christian.

Thus, the Muslim community on Christmas Island is a fairly large minority, but not a majority overall.

3. Australia's Galapagos

Christmas Island is widely known for its extraordinary biodiversity. The island is home to a number of endemic species that are not found anywhere else in the world.

One of the most famous is the Christmas Island red crab (Gecarcoidea natalis), which migrates en masse from the forest to the sea every year to breed. This phenomenon attracts the attention of scientists and tourists from around the world.