243 - Christmas Island, Kiritimati
|RConstitution:|N Republic, part of Kiritibati. Member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
|RNature and climate:|N Atollisland in Polynesia.
Average temperature +28°C throughout the year.
Percipitation 2000 mm.
|RPeople:|N Mostly Micronesian, but also some Polynesians, Europeans and Chinese.
|REconomy:|N Cocosplantations for copraproduction, mainly as selfsubsistent households.
|RHistory:|N The island was discovered by James Cook at Christmas Eve 1777. British colony since 1882.
In the 1950:es the island was the base for British tests of nuclear weapons.
Since 1979 a part of the independent nation Kiribati.