Part of Australia, Christmas Island is Close to Java Island

VIVA – When looking at the map of Indonesia overall, there is a small island located in southwest of the Java Island. The small island is known as Christmas Island. Christmas Island is an island located in the Indian Ocean. Even though it is close to Java Island, it turns out that Christmas Island is part of Australia.

Christmas Island consists of only one island and has an area of 135 square kilometers. Natal Island is located 2,600 km (1,600 miles) northwest of the city of Perth, Western Australia and is 'only' about 500 km (310 miles) south of Jakarta, Indonesia.

Out of reach of people until the 19^th  century, it turns out that this island has been discovered since 1615. The name Christmas Island itself was given by an English sailor named William Mynors when he sailed through the island on Christmas Day in 1643.

The population on Christmas Island in 2016 was recorded as 1,843 people living on this island. The majority of residents live in the capital city with a quite unique name, namely Flying Fish Cove.

The population includes many ethnic Chinese, Malays, and some European ancestry. For a living, most of the residents work as employees of a phosphate mining company.

Christmas Island is famous for its marine wealth and beautiful beaches. For those who want to visit Christmas Island, visitors can take a plane from the city of Perth.

The beach at Flying Fish Cove is a mainstay of Christmas Island tourism. Its white sand, blue waters and warm water temperatures all year round make it perfect for snorkeling above the coral gardens.

These waters are home to more than 575 species of tropical fish. If lucky, visitors can see sharks or whales between November to May.

On Christmas Island, visitors can also see the annual red crab migration. As many as 60 million red earth crabs move from burrows in the forest to the beach to lay their eggs. Usually, crabs migrate in October and November.

Not only that, Christmas Island is home to the largest land crab in the world, namely the Walnut crab or also known as the coconut crab which reaches one meter wide.

Christmas Island is also a habitat for the yellow-feathered, high-tailed bosun. Bosun birds often perch on cliff tops. Not only that, there are also frigate birds that are often seen looking for water intake in the ponds.

In addition, there are also red and brown legged booby birds. Even the rarest booby, the booby abbott is on this island. Booby birds tend to be friendly with humans because they will allow humans to approach their nests which are above the ground.