Gilbert and Ellice Islands - History

History

The protectorate was generally established on this area (but not on these islands) by the Pacific Islanders Protection Act of 1857, and then in 1877 for the Western Pacific Territories, but the protectorate on the Gilbert group and on the Ellice group was formal and effective only from 1892, and a Resident Commissioner was appointed in 1893. The islands became a Crown Colony on 12 January 1916. The colony's capital was mainly on Banaba Island (Ocean Island) and after World War II on Tarawa, first in Betio island then near Bairiki.

The sixteen islands of the Gilberts were declared a British protectorate by Captain Davis RN, of HMS Royalist between 27 May and 17 June 1892. The Ellice Islands were declared a protectorate by Captain Gibson RN of HMS Curacao between 9th and 16 October of the same year; Banaba Island (or Ocean Island) was included within the protectorate in 1900 and then in the colony in 1916. In the same year, Fanning Island and Washington Island were included in it together with the islands of the Tokelau or Union Islands; Christmas Island was included in 1919 but was contested by the US. Tokelau was transferred to New Zealand administration in 1926, abolishing the islands' chiefdoms. By the Tokelau Act of 1948, sovereignty over Tokelau was transferred to New Zealand. The Phoenix Islands were added in 1937 and the five islands of the Central and Southern Line Islands were added in 1972.

In 1974, ethnic differences within the colony caused the Polynesians of the Ellice Islands to vote for separation from the Micronesians of the Gilbert Islands (later Kiribati). The following year, the Ellice Islands became the separate British colony of Tuvalu.