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Betio
Betio is the largest township of Kiribati's capital city, South Tarawa, and the country's main port. The settlement is located on a separate islet at the extreme southwest of the atoll. Betio Post Office opened on 5 April 1957 and closed in 1964. In 1967, the Marine Training Centre was created by Hamburg Süd. John Hilary Smith, governor of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands created the Betio Town Council in 1972. Since the 1970s, the islet has become a major centre of economic activity in Kiribati, and a causeway to Bairiki was constructed in the early 1980s, leading to an increase in human contact with the island. Due to changing currents resulting from the construction of the causeway, Bikeman Island, northeast of Betio, has been submerged since the early 1990s. Pacific War The island was the scene of the Battle of Tarawa during World War II.
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Battle Of Tarawa
The Battle of Tarawa was fought on 20–23 November 1943 between the United States and Japan at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Americans died in the fighting, mostly on and around the small island of Betio, in the extreme southwest of Tarawa Atoll. The Battle of Tarawa was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region. It was also the first time in the Pacific War that the United States had faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing. Previous landings met little or no initial resistance, but on Tarawa the 4,500 Japanese defenders were well-supplied and well-prepared, and they fought almost to the last man, exacting a heavy toll on the United States Marine Corps. The losses on Tarawa were incurred within 76 hours. Background American strategic decisions To set up forward air bases capable of supporting operations across ...
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South Tarawa
South Tarawa ( gil, Tarawa Teinainano) is the capital and hub of the Republic of Kiribati and home to more than half of Kiribati's population. The South Tarawa population centre consists of all the small islets from Betio in the west to Bonriki and Tanaea in the north-east, connected by the South Tarawa main road, with a population of 63,439 . South Tarawa is home to most of the government, commercial and education facilities in Kiribati including the Port and the High Court at Betio, the State House, Government Ministries and foreign embassies and High Commissions in Bairiki, the University of the South Pacific campus in Teaoraereke, the House of Assembly in Ambo, the Kiribati Teacher College and King George V and Elaine Bernacchi School, the Government High School, is in Bikenibeu, and the Tungaru central hospital in Nawerewere. The Roman Catholic Diocese is based in Teaoraereke, the Kiribati Uniting Church in Antebuka, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of ...
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Naval Base Tarawa
Naval Base Tarawa was a naval base built by the United States Navy in 1943 to support the World War II effort. The base was located on Tarawa atoll in the Gilbert Islands in the Central Pacific Ocean. The base was built as one of many advance bases in the island-hopping campaign towards the Empire of Japan. At Naval Base Tarawa the Navy built a seaport, seaplane base and two airbases. Construction started after the Battle of Tarawa ended November 23, 1943, part of Operation Galvanic. History To support the Battle of Tarawa a US Navy fast carrier strike group was founded. The strike group flag ships were the USS ''Yorktown'' and USS ''Essex''. New to the strike group was stationing US submarines around Tarawa to rescue downed aircrew quickly. A second fast carrier strike group supported the battle. The strike group flag ships were the: USS ''Lexington'' and USS ''Princeton'' and USS ''Belleau Wood''. From Naval Base Funafuti the US Navy sent 24 Consolidated PBY Catali ...
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Kiribati
Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The World Factbook''.

Europa (web portal). Retrieved 29 January 2016.
is an in in the central . The permanent population is over 119,000 (2020), more than half of whom live on

Kiribati Bairiki Betio Causeway
Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The World Factbook''.

Europa (web portal). Retrieved 29 January 2016.
is an in in the central . The permanent population is over 119,000 (2020), more than half of whom live on

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Tarawa
Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''''. .
in the region of the central Pacific Ocean. It comprises , which has 6,629 inhabitants and much in common with other more remote islands of the
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Bairiki
Bairiki is a settlement in South Tarawa of Kiribati. The State House, the National Stadium, the High Commissions of Australia and New Zealand as well as the embassy of China, and most of the Government Ministries are based in Bairiki. Bairiki is administered by the Teinainano Urban Council or TUC. As at the 2010 Census the population of Bairiki was 3,524. Overview Bairiki was sometimes considered the capital of Kiribati because at one time both the Parliament and the Presidency (and main administrative offices) were located there. However Parliament moved to Ambo in 2000, and the various ministries are scattered throughout South Tarawa, from Betio to Bikenibeu. Geography Bairiki is an islet near the Western end of South Tarawa. It is joined to Betio by the Nippon Causeway, which opened in 1989, and is also joined to Naanekai by a causeway, forming part of a continuous road which links South Tarawa from Betio in the West to Bonriki International Airport in the East. Bairiki i ...
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Bikeman Island
Bikeman Island is a submerged islet about a half-hour's canoe ride northeast of Betio, Kiribati. Due to changing currents and the construction of a causeway between Betio and Bairiki, Bikeman has been submerged since the early 1990s. If one were to stand on Bikeman today, the water would reach up to one's knees. See also * Tarawa * Desert island * List of islands This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another plane ... References Further reading *Vogel, Scott (April 20, 2001)"That sinking feeling" '' Honolulu Star-Bulletin''. Retrieved March 14, 2013. "A fisherman wades over land that was formerly above water. The lost island of Bikeman offers a vivid example of the danger facing Pacific islands as global warming causes rising waters." {{coord, 1, 23, N, 173, 00, E, display= ...
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Gilbert And Ellice Islands
The Gilbert and Ellice Islands (GEIC as a colony) in the Pacific Ocean were part of the British Empire from 1892 to 1976. They were a protectorate from 1892 to 12 January 1916, and then a colony until 1 January 1976. The history of the colony was mainly characterized by phosphate mining on Ocean Island. In October 1975, these islands were divided by force of law into two separate colonies, and they became independent nations shortly thereafter: the Ellice Islands became Tuvalu in 1978, and the Gilbert Islands became part of Kiribati in 1979. Location The Gilbert IslandsReilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. (sometimes also known as ''Kingsmill Islands''Very often, this name applied only to the southern islands of the archipelago. ''Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary''. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam Webster, 1997. p. 594.) are a chain of sixteen atolls and ...
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Hawkins Field (Tarawa)
Hawkins Field is a former World War II airfield on Betio, Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands of the Central Pacific. The airfield was named in honor of USMC 1st Lt. William Dean Hawkins who was killed in the battle to recapture Tarawa, and earned the Medal of Honor. History The airfield was built during the Japanese occupation of the Gilbert Islands in 1943. There was a turnaround at the eastern end of the runway and a taxiway with revetments in the middle between the runway and the taxiway. The Japanese had Zeros, Vals, Nells and Bettys operating from this base. During the Battle of Tarawa (November 20 – 23, 1943), United States Marines seized the airfield as a target of the operation, to enable USAAF land-based air operations against the Japanese in the Marshall Islands. After the battle, US Navy Seebees from the 2nd Battalion 18th Marines, 74th and 98th Naval Construction Battalions bulldozed all the debris off the airfield and extended the runway right to the western en ...
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Gilbert Islands
The Gilbert Islands ( gil, Tungaru;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this name applied only to the southern islands of the archipelago, the northern half being designated as the Scarborough Islands. ''Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary''. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam Webster, 1997. p. 594) are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Papua New Guinea and Hawaii. They constitute the main part of the nation of Kiribati (the name of which is a rendering of “Gilberts” in the phonology of the indigenous Gilbertese). Geography The atolls and islands of the Gilbert Islands are arranged in an approximate north-to-south line. The northernmost island in the group, Makin, it is approximately from southernmost, Arorae, as the crow flies. Geographically, the ...
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Marine Training Centre
The Marine Training Centre Tarawa (MTC) is a training school for seafarers founded in 1967 in Betio, Tarawa, division of the Ministry of Employment and Human Resources of the Government of Kiribati. The Marine Training Centre, mainly funded by Germany (Hamburg Süd), European Union, New Zealand aid, and Japan, is approved to conduct training by the Marine Division of the Ministry, being the Maritime Authority of the Government. History A cargo ship of Hamburg Süd occurred to have an injured crew member in 1964: the Captain report on the skilled fishermen of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands in Tarawa gave him the idea of recruiting these seamen. As a Merchant Marine training school, MTC is now owned and funded by the government of Kiribati. MTC was established in 1967 by the British Government, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the British shipping China Navigation Company, and the German shipping company Hamburg Süd, being part of the SPMS (South Pacific Marine S ...
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