Abaiang Atoll

Abaiang Atoll, coral atoll of the Gilbert Islands, part of Kiribati, in the west-central Pacific Ocean. Comprising six islets in the northern Gilberts, the atoll has a lagoon (16 miles by 5 miles [26 km by 8 km]) that provides sheltered anchorage. The islets of Abaiang are Teirio, Nuotaea, Nanikirata, Twin Tree, Ribona, and Iku. Its European discoverer, Capt. Thomas Gilbert (1788), named it Matthew’s Island for the owner of his ship, the Charlotte. He called the lagoon Charlotte Bay and the main islet Point Charlotte. Subsequent errors in identification led to the island’s being known as Charlotte Island. The area’s first influential missionary, the American Hiram Bingham, arrived there in 1857. The atoll, occupied by the Japanese in 1941–43, was subsequently used by Allied forces as a base for attacking the Marshall Islands. The administrative centre and main village is Tuarabu. Copra is exported. Total land area 7 square miles (18 square km). Pop. (2005 prelim.) 5,502.