]! ^! Named in 1643 for the day of its discovery, the island was annexed and settlement was begun by the UK in 1888. Phosphate mining began in the 1890s. The UK transferred sovereignty to Australia in 1958. Almost two-thirds of the island has been declared a national park. 
]" ^" Southeastern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of Indonesia ^# 10 30 S, 105 40 E ^$ Southeast Asia ^% `! 135 sq km `" 135 sq km `# 0 sq km ^& about three-quarters the size of Washington, DC ^' 0 km ^( 138.9 km ^) `$ 12 nm `H 12 nm `a 200 nm ^* tropical with a wet and dry season; heat and humidity moderated by trade winds; wet season December to April ^+ steep cliffs along coast rise abruptly to central plateau ^, `% Indian Ocean 0 m `& Murray Hill 361 m ^- phosphate, beaches ^. `' 0% `( 0% `) 100% note: mainly tropical rainforest; 63% of the island is a national park (2001) ^/ NA sq km ^0 the narrow fringing reef surrounding the island can be a maritime hazard ^1 NA ^2 located along major sea lanes of Indian Ocean 
]# ^3 361 (July 2005 est.) ^4 `* NA `+ NA `, NA ^6 0% (2005 est.) ^7 NA ^8 NA ^9 NA ^: NA ^; `! NA `- NA `. NA ^< `1 NA `- NA `. NA ^= NA ^> NA ^? NA ^@ NA ^A `2 Christmas Islander(s) `3 Christmas Island ^B Chinese 70%, European 20%, Malay 10% note: no indigenous population (2001) ^C Buddhist 36%, Muslim 25%, Christian 18%, other 21% (1997) ^D English (official), Chinese, Malay ^E NA _` the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports a population of 1,508 as of the 2001 Census 
]$ ^F `4 Territory of Christmas Island `5 Christmas Island ^G territory of Australia; administered by the Australian Department of Transport and Regional Services ^H NA ^I The Settlement ^J none (territory of Australia) ^K none (territory of Australia) ^L Australia Day, 26 January (1788) ^M Christmas Island Act of 1958-59 (1 October 1958) ^N under the authority of the governor general of Australia and Australian law ^P `6 Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by the Australian governor general `7 Administrator Evan WILLIAMS (since 1 November 2003) `9 none; the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the governor general of Australia and represents the monarch and Australia ^Q unicameral Christmas Island Shire Council (9 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) `9 held every two years with half the members standing for election; last held 3 May 2003 (next to be held in 2005) `: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 9 ^R Supreme Court; District Court; Magistrate's Court ^S none ^T none ^U none ^V none (territory of Australia) ^W none (territory of Australia) ^X the flag of Australia is used; note - in early 1986, the Christmas Island Assembly held a design competition for an island flag, however, the winning design has never been formally adopted as the official flag of the territory 
]% ^Y Phosphate mining had been the only significant economic activity, but in December 1987 the Australian Government closed the mine. In 1991, the mine was reopened. With the support of the government, a $34 million casino opened in 1993. The casino closed in 1998. The Australian Government in 2001 agreed to support the creation of a commercial space-launching site on the island, projected to begin operations in the near future ^Z NA ^[ NA ^] `; NA `< NA `= NA ^^ NA ^_ NA _# `@ NA `A NA, including capital expenditures of NA _$ NA _% tourism, phosphate extraction (near depletion) _/ NA _0 phosphate _1 Australia, NZ _2 NA _3 consumer goods _4 principally Australia _6 NA _7 Australian dollar (AUD) _8 Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001), 1.7248 (2000) _9 1 July - 30 June 
]& _: NA _; NA _< `B service provided by the Australian network `C GSM mobile telephone service replaced older analog system in February 2005 `D country code - 61-891; satellite earth stations - one Intelsat earth station provides telephone and telex service (2000) _= AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (2004) _> NA _? .cx _A NA 
]' _B `! 240 km `E 30 km `F 210 km (2000) _C Flying Fish Cove _D 1 (2004 est.) _E `! 1 `^ 1 (2004 est.) 
]( _G defense is the responsibility of Australia 
]) _H none 