Where is Christmas Island?
Christmas Island is an Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean, about 350 kilometres south of Java and roughly 1,550 kilometres from the Australian mainland.
The island was named by Captain William Mynors, who sailed past on Christmas Day 1643. It was uninhabited until phosphate mining began in the late 1800s, bringing workers from China, Malaysia and elsewhere. It became an Australian territory in 1958.
About 1,700 people live there today, many of Chinese or Malay heritage, and Mandarin, Malay and English are all spoken. Around two-thirds of the island is protected as Christmas Island National Park.
The red crab migration
The island is world famous for its annual red crab migration. Each wet season, tens of millions of red land crabs march from the forest to the sea to breed, and roads are closed or fitted with crab bridges so they can cross safely.
The island is reached by flights from Perth, which take around four hours. Its rugged coast, rainforest and coral reefs attract divers, birdwatchers and nature lovers.
Did You Know?
Christmas Island also hosts large seabird colonies, including the Abbott's booby, which nests nowhere else.