GILBERT ISLANDS

formerly Kingsmill, group of 16 coral atolls, part of Kiribati, in the west central Pacific Ocean 2,800 mi (4,500 km) northeast of Australia. The islandsMakin, Butaritari, Marakei, Abaiang, Tarawa, Maiana, Abemama, Kuria, Aranuka, Nonouti, Tabiteuea, Beru, Nikunau, Onotoa, Tamana, and Aroraeoccupy a total land area of 105 sq mi (272 sq km). Low-lying, they are covered with coconut palm and pandanus. Rainfall varies from 80 to 100 in. (2,000 to 2,500 mm) in the north to 40 in. in the south. Spanish explorers may have sighted some of the islands as early as the 16th century. In 1765 the British commodore John Byron discovered Nikunau; in 1788 Capt. Thomas Gilbert sighted Tarawa, and Capt. John Marshall discovered Aranuka. Europeans discovered the remaining islands between 1799 and 1826. They were named the Gilbert Islands in the 1820s. In 1892 Capt. E.H.M. Davis proclaimed the group a British protectorate, and in 1916 it became part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Crown Colony. The Gilbert Islands were occupied by Japanese forces in 1941, but the Japanese were driven out by U.S. troops in 1943. The Gilbert Islands, with the Central and Southern Line Islands, the Northern Line Islands, Ocean Island, and the Phoenix Islands, formed the independent republic of Kiribati (q.v.) in 1979. Tarawa (q.v.), the capital of Kiribati, has developed into an urban community. Elsewhere on the islands the people, who are Micronesians, live in traditional villages. The economy is based mainly on farming and fishing, and the major exports are phosphate and copra. Pop. (1983 est.) 57,950.