The Shire of Christmas Island is a local government area of the Australian external territory of

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

(;

post code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal a ...

: 6798). The island is grouped with

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

but is administered by the Attorney-General's Department and an Administrator. It covers an area of 136.7 km² in the Indian Ocean about 2,360 km north-west of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

and 500 km south of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

in Indonesia. It has a population of 1,448 (ABS 2001).

History

The island was previously a British territory administered through Singapore but was transferred to Australia in 1945. After 1958, it was managed by the Christmas Island Assembly and Christmas Island Services Corporation. The Australian Government provides Commonwealth-level government services through the Christmas Island Administration and the Department of Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government. As per the Federal Government's Territories Law Reform Act 1992, which came into force on 1 July 1992,

n laws are applied to Christmas Island "so far as they are capable of applying in the Territory."; non-application or partial application of such laws is at the discretion of the federal government. The Act also gives Western Australian courts judicial power over Christmas Island. Christmas Island remains constitutionally distinct from Western Australia, however; the power of the state to legislate for the territory is power delegated by the federal government. The kind of services typically provided by a state government elsewhere in Australia are provided by departments of the Western Australian Government, and by contractors, with the costs met by the federal government. An ordinance subsequently created the Shire of Christmas Island out of a merger of the two previous entities. A nine-member Shire Council was established to provide local services. Councilors serve four-year terms, with four or five being chosen every second year. The first elections were held in May 1993.Welcome to the Shire of Christmas Island
" ''Shire of Christmas Island''. Retrieved 23 February 2009. The Shire's offices are located at George Fam Centre, Murray Road,

Demographics

The shire has around 1,200 residents consisting mostly of Malaysian Chinese, Malays, people of Anglo Australian descent and smaller communities of Malaysian Indians and

Eurasian Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Ja ...

s. The main languages spoken are English, Malay, and

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...

. Some residents speak other

Chinese dialect Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast of main ...

s. About 60% of the population speaks Chinese at home, 20% speak Malay at home, and 20% speak English or another European language at home.About Christmas Island
" ''

Christmas Island District High School Christmas Island District High School (CIDHS) is a public co-educational early learning, primary, and high day school located in Christmas Island, a territory of Australia. the school served approximately 235 students from kindergarten throu ...

''. Retrieved 23 February 2009.

Presidents of Shire of Christmas Island Shire Council

The office was known as the "President of Christmas Island Shire Council" prior to 2004.

Wards

The shire has nine councillors and no wards.

Education

is the school on Christmas Island. Until the end of 2002 the school was a K-Year 10 school; previously all post-compulsory levels and now compulsory with the new school leaving age (Year 11 and Year 12) studied in

, Western Australia. Year 11 enrolment began in 2002, and by 2005 Years 11 and 12 had been established at the school. Christmas Island students have the option to remain on the island or study in Perth. The shire includes a public library for residents. The library has regular book exchanges with the

State Library of Western Australia The State Library of Western Australia is a research, education, reference and public lending library located in the Perth Cultural Centre in Perth, Western Australia. It is a portfolio agency of the Western Australia Department of Culture and t ...

.Public Library
." ''Shire of Christmas Island''. Retrieved 23 February 2009.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Government of Christmas Island