Tabuaeran


Tabuaeran

(təbo͞o'əĕr`ən), atoll (1990 pop. 1,309), c.15 sq mi (40 sq km), central Pacific, one of the Line IslandsLine Islands
or Equatorial Islands,
coral group, 43 sq mi (111 sq km), central and S Pacific. Once valuable for their guano deposits, the islands now have coconut groves, airfields, and meteorological stations.
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 and part of the Republic of KiribatiKiribati
, officially Republic of Kiribati (2015 est. pop. 112,000), 342 sq mi (886 sq km), consisting of 33 islands scattered across 2,400 mi (3,860 km) of the Pacific Ocean near the equator.
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. Visited by the American explorer Edmund FanningFanning, Edmund,
1769–1841, American trader, explorer, and promoter of trade and exploration in the South Seas, b. Stonington, Conn. At the age of 14 he went to sea. In command of a trading vessel, he realized a large profit from an expedition in 1797–98.
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 in 1798, it was annexed by Great Britain in 1889 and became a part of the colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands in 1916. Formerly called Fanning Island, it was renamed Tabuaeran when it gained independence as part of Kiribati in 1979. Copra is the only export. Residents of overcrowded islands in Kiribati have been resettled on Tabuaeran.