ABEMAMA ATOLL

also spelled Apamama, formerly Roger Simpson Island, coral atoll of the northern Gilbert Islands, part of Kiribati, in the west-central Pacific Ocean. Captain Charles Bishop, who discovered the atoll in 1799, named it Roger Simpson Island for one of his associates. Seat of the area's ruling family in the 19th century, the atoll was the site of the formal British annexation of the Gilbert Island group in 1892. Occupied by Japanese forces from 1942 to 1943, Abemama became a U.S. military base for the following two years. The administrative headquarters of Abemama Atoll is at Kariatebike. There is also a hospital and airfield. Copra is exported. Pop. (1985) 2,966.