Former British colony, western central Pacific Ocean.
The colony consisted of the Gilbert Islands , Tuvalu (formerly Ellice islands), the northern Line Islands , and the Phoenix Islands . First visited by Europeans by the early 19th century, the group was proclaimed a British protectorate in 1892 and made a crown colony in 1916. In 1979 the colony was divided and formed parts of independent Kiribati and Tuvalu.