Teraina, also known as Washington Island (both names are constitutional), is a coral atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, part of the Northern Line Islands belonging to Kiribati. The island has an area of 3 mi˛ (7.8 km˛) and the population in 1990 was 936 (more than 1,000 in 2000). It is located at 4.71° North latitude and 160.76° West longitude.
The island was first sighted by American explorer Edmund Fanning on June 12, 1798, who named the island for George Washington. It was annexed by the British in 1889, becoming a part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony in 1916. The name of the island was also translated to Teraina in 1979 when Kiribati gained independence. The major export of Teraina is copra, the dried meat of the coconut.
Other names for the island include Prospect Island and New York Island.
Teraina, also known as Washington Island (both names are constitutional), is a coral atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, part of the Northern Line Islands belonging to Kiribati.
The name of the island was also translated to Teraina in 1979 when Kiribati gained independence.
The major export of Teraina is copra, the dried meat of the coconut.
Teraina is small, 3.5 miles long by 2 miles wide, and it has a human population of 900.
However, we read that Teraina, also called Washington Island, has a 2 km freshwater lake and a pristine forest of Pisonia, a native tree that is in decline throughout the central Pacific.
We stopped on the southwest part of Teraina, in the middle of the largest Pisonia patch, near an immaculate beach washed by shifting blue waves.
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