Which country is Christmas Island in?

Christmas Island is located in the Indian Ocean in northwest Australia, near Java Island. 1958 years ago, it was the territory of Singapore, and it was one of the few regions in the world with Chinese as the main population except China and Singapore.

The island is the top of the submarine peak, and the highest peak on the island is Mount Murray, with an altitude of 36 1 m, which is located in the west of the island. The coastline is 80 kilometers long, most of which are cliffs, with only about 13 shoals. The largest is Feiyu Bay, which is the only port on the island, the main population settlement and the main port.

Christmas Island is rich in apatite minerals, which are jointly exploited by Australian and New Zealand companies. A series of undulating slopes and terraces descend from the central plateau, and the coast is at the end of the slope, mostly steep cliffs with a height of more than 20 meters. There are beaches and coral reefs along the coast. There are precious phosphate deposits on the island. Most of the western end of the island has been designated as a national park.

Christmas island resources

During the period of 1887, the personnel aboard HMS Egri Asia collected soil and rock samples from the island. After testing the samples, British naturalist Murray found that they are almost pure lime phosphate, and the phosphate industry is the economic pillar of Christmas Island. Mining activities began in the second half of19th century. At the end of 1987, the Australian government announced the closure of phosphate rock.

Since 1990, private companies are allowed to resume mining without destroying tropical rainforest resources. At present, the phosphate industry is under the responsibility of Phosphate Resources Company. 1998, Phosphate Resources Company signed a mineral lease of 2 1 year with the Australian federal government.

The island's economy depends almost entirely on the exploitation of phosphate rock, which was transported to Australia and New Zealand. However, this situation changed in the early 1990s. The profitable phosphate rock was almost exhausted, and other economic activities such as tourism remained to be developed.

The above contents refer to Baidu Encyclopedia-Christmas Island.