Poland is a village in

Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...

, located on the island of

Kiritimati Kiritimati (also known as Christmas Island) is a Pacific Ocean atoll in the northern Line Islands. It is part of the Republic of Kiribati. The name is derived from the English word "Christmas" written in Gilbertese according to its phonology, ...

, within the archipelago of

Line Islands The Line Islands, Teraina Islands or Equatorial Islands (in Gilbertese, ''Aono Raina'') are a chain of 11 atolls (with partly or fully enclosed lagoons) and coral islands (with a surrounding reef) in the central Pacific Ocean, south of the Hawa ...

. In 2020, it was inhabited by 404 people, making it the smallest of the four settlements of the island. The village was named by after the birth country of his

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

plantation manager and engineer Stanisław Pełczyński, who aided the villagers. He solved the problem of effectively watering palm trees during the dry season by suggesting a modified irrigation system, then helping to build it, and teaching how to use it. The village was featured in one of the promotional videos for the

2013 United Nations Climate Change Conference The United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP19 or CMP9 was held in Warsaw, Poland from 11 to 23 November 2013. This is the 19th yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 19) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Cli ...

Warsaw, Poland Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-cen ...

Location

Poland is located on the westernmost part of the island, at

geographic coordinates The geographic coordinate system (GCS) is a spherical or ellipsoidal coordinate system for measuring and communicating positions directly on the Earth as latitude and longitude. It is the simplest, oldest and most widely used of the various ...

Demographics

At the time of the 2010 census, the population is 441 people.Report on the Kiribati 2010 Census of Population and Housing. Vol 1: Basic Information and Tables. Part B: Personal (Population) Tables. Table 3: Population by Village, Sex and Age Group - 2010. S. 50.
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Name

The village was named in honor of a

Pole Pole may refer to: Astronomy *Celestial pole, the projection of the planet Earth's axis of rotation onto the celestial sphere; also applies to the axis of rotation of other planets *Pole star, a visible star that is approximately aligned with the ...

whose name was Stanisław (Stanislaus) Pełczyński. Having arrived with an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

merchant vessel A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are us ...

that was plying the

copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...

trade at a time, when the local inhabitants were having difficulties irrigating their

palm tree The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ...

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s, Stanisław helped them solve the problem. Accordingly, the village was renamed to its present-day name in his honor. Also, a church was built there and dedicated under the auspices of

Stanislaus Kostka Stanisław Kostka S.J. (28 October 1550 – 15 August 1568) was a Polish novice of the Society of Jesus. He is venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Stanislaus Kostka (as distinct from his namesake, the 11th-century Bishop of Kraków S ...

, and a bay in the

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

was named Saint Stanislaus Bay.

Education

There is a primary school with three main teachers and 45 students.

References

Sources

*R. Antoszewski
"Pacyficzna Polska"
( en, Pacific Poland), ''Kurioza naukowe/Scientific curiosities'', ISSN 1176-7545; year VI; No 1033. April 2005, v.55. On the web: 2005-05-29. Titirangi, Auckland, Nowa Zelandia. Link accessed on 2007-10-04. *Wojciech Dąbrowski
"Od Kiribati do Nauru"
( pl, From Kiribati to Nauru). Link accessed on 2007-10-04. The 5/6 class of the Poland Primary School and the headteacher at Poland Primary School.

External links

I CARE FOR POLAND - a short documentary about village Poland in Kiribati
*Wojciech Dąbrowski
Homepage of the Polish world traveller Wojciech Dąbrowski
Link accessed on 2007-10-04. {{in lang, en, pl Populated places in Kiribati Kiritimati