Birnie

Birnie is a coral atoll located in the Phoenix Islands group in the west-central Pacific Ocean, part of Kiribati. It is a low, sandy island with a total land area of approximately 11 square miles.1

An atoll is a coral reef that encloses a lagoon. These reefs rise from the ocean floor and typically have low, flat islands along their rim. The formation of atolls is explained by Charles Darwin's subsidence theory, which suggests they are the result of reef growth around a sinking volcanic island.2

Birnie was discovered by American whaling ships in the 19th century and was briefly worked for guano. It was annexed by Great Britain in 1889 and later became part of independent Kiribati in 1979. Birnie is uninhabited.1