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(詳細はGilbertese should be ''Bwanaba'' but the Constitution of Kiribati writes Banaba. Because of the spelling in English or French, the name was very often written Paanapa or Paanopa, as it was in 1901 Act.〕 (; also Ocean Island), an island in the Pacific Ocean, is a solitary raised coral island west of the Gilbert Island chain and east of Nauru. It is part of the Republic of Kiribati. It has an area of 6.0 km², and the highest point on the island is also the highest point in Kiribati, at 81 metres (266 ft) high. Along with Nauru and Makatea (French Polynesia), it is one of the important elevated phosphate-rich islands of the Pacific.〔C.Michael Hogan. 2011. (''Phosphate''. Encyclopedia of Earth. Topic ed. Andy Jorgensen. Ed.-in-Chief C.J.Cleveland. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC )〕 == History == According to ''"Te Rii Ni Banaba—The Backbone of Banaba"'' by Raobeia Ken Sigrah, Banaban oral history supports the claim that the people of the Te Aka clan, which originated in Melanesia, were the original inhabitants of Banaba (Ocean Island), having arrived before the arrival of later migrations from the East Indies and Kiribati. The name Banaba in local tongue, Gilbertese, is correctly spelled ''Bwanaba'', but the Constitution of 12 July 1979 writes ''Banaba'', meaning "hollow land". Sigrah makes the controversial (and politically loaded) assertion that Banabans are ethnically distinct from other I-Kiribati. The Banabans were assimilated only through forced migrations and the impact of the discovery of phosphate in 1900. There used to be four villages on the island - Ooma (Uma), Tabiang, Tapiwa (Tabwewa), and Buakonikai. The local capital was Tabiang, now called Antereen. The first European sighting of Banaba occurred on 3 January 1801. Captain Jared Gardner in the American vessel ''Diana'' sighted the island. Then in 1804, Captain John Mertho of the convict transport and merchant ship ''Ocean'' sighted the island and named it after his vessel. Banaba is prone to drought, as it is a high island with no natural streams and no water lens. A three-year drought starting in 1873 killed over three quarters of the population and wiped out almost all the trees; many of those who survived left the island on passing ships to escape the drought, and only some were able to return, often years later.〔 Phosphate rock-mining (for fertiliser) from 1900 to 1979 stripped away 90% of the island's surface, the same process which occurred on Nauru from 1907 to the 1980s. Japanese forces occupied the island from 26 August 1942 until the end of World War II in 1945. The British authorities relocated most of the population to Rabi Island, Fiji after 1945, with subsequent waves of migration in 1977 and 1981-1983. Some have subsequently returned, following the end of mining in 1979; approximately 300 were living on the island in 2001. The population of Banaba in the 2010 census was 295.〔 Globally, there are an estimated 6000 individuals of Banaban descent.〔Fiji Times, 27 December 2005〕 On Rabi Island the names of settlements are the same authentic four names from Banaba Island. Ocean Island Post Office opened on 1 January 1911 and was renamed Banaba around 1979. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Banaba Island」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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