BUTARITARI ATOLL

also called Makin Atoll, formerly Pitt Island, coral atoll of the Gilbert Islands, part of Kiribati, in the west-central Pacific Ocean. Located in the northern Gilberts, it comprises a central lagoon (11 miles wide) ringed by islets, with a total area of 5.2 square miles (13.5 square km), which provides a good deep anchorage with three passages to the open sea. Occupied by Japanese forces from 1941 to 1943, the atoll served as a U.S. air and naval base for the last two years of World War II. The main village and port is on the islet of Butaritari. Copra is exported. Pop. (1990) 3,786.