Nonouti

Nonouti

File:11 Map of Nonouti, Kiribati.jpg Map of Nonouti
Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean
Coordinates
Archipelago	Gilbert Islands
Area
Highest elevation	3 m (10 ft)
Country
Kiribati
Demographics
Population	2,683 (as of 2010 Census)
Density	135 /km2 (350 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups	I-Kiribati 99.7%
Additional information
Nonouti Capital Matang

Main articles: Kiribati and Gilbert Islands

Nonouti Atoll

Nonouti is an atoll and district of Kiribati. The atoll is located in the South Gilbert Islands, 38 km north of Tabiteuea, and 250 km south of Tarawa. The atoll is the third largest in the Gilbert Islands and is the island where the Catholic religion was first established in Kiribati, in 1888.

Geography

The eastern side of the atoll is the primary permanent landmass. There is an islet on the northwest side of the atoll called Noumatong, which is uninhabited and is reserved as a bird sanctuary. The eastern area of the atoll consists of tiny islets and islands which form a continuous line.

Villages

The government station on the island is located in the village of Matang. The island clerk is the highest ranking government official on the island. The former president, Ieremia Tabai, is from Nonouti.

Nonuti hosts seven primary schools and one Junior Secondary School, and is home to George Eastman High School, run privately by the Kiribati Protestant Church.

The land area of Nonouti islets, and village populations, are:

Nonouti: Population and Land Area
Census Area	Population 2010	Land area by islet	Density (people per hectare)
Abamakoro	104	185 hectares (457 acres)	0.6
Benuaroa	84	108 hectares (267 acres)	0.8
Teuabu	269	150 hectares (371 acres)	1.9
Temanoku	286	562 hectares (1,389 acres)	0.9
Rotuma	405
Autukia	112
Matang	537	811 hectares (2,004 acres)	1.5
Taboiaki	692
Temotu	194	138 hectares (341 acres)	1.4
Nonouti total	2683	1,988 hectares (4,912 acres)	1.3

History

In the late 19th century, Nonouti was briefly conquered by the king of Abemama, Tembinok'. The latter was driven out of Nonouti by a British warship.

Later in the 1870s, a blackbirding ship came to Nonouti to recruit people to work in Tahiti. Betero and Tiroi from Nonouti were among these people. They stayed in Tahiti and became strong members of the Roman Catholic Church there.

In 1888, the Roman Catholic missionaries from France arrived in Nonouti. Close to where the first catholic missionaries arrived in 1888, just behind the apse of the Catholic Church in Taboiaki village, are the six graves of important foreign missionaries and people to the Catholic Church. Opposite this Catholic Church is the biggest maneaba in Kiribati known as the Aake Maneaba.

Nonouti Post Office opened around 1923.

References

• Exhibit: The Alfred Agate Collection: The United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 from the Navy Art Gallery