Colony of Gilbert Islands | |||||||||
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| 1976–1979 | |||||||||
.svg) Flag
 Coat of arms
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| Anthem: "God Save the King" | |||||||||
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| Status | Colony of the United Kingdom | ||||||||
| Capital | South Tarawa | ||||||||
| Common languages | English, Gilbertese | ||||||||
| Monarch | |||||||||
• 1976–1979 | Elizabeth II | ||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||
• 1976–1978 | John Hilary Smith | ||||||||
• 1978–1979 | Reginald James Wallace | ||||||||
| Chief Minister | |||||||||
• 1978–1979 | Ieremia Tabai | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Colony | 1 January[1] 1976 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 12 July 1979 | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1978 | 56,213 | ||||||||
| Currency | Australian dollar | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Kiribati | ||||||||
The Gilbert Islands (Gilbertese: Tungaru;[2] formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill Islands[3]) are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Papua New Guinea and Hawaii. They constitute the main part of the country of Kiribati (the name of which is a rendering of "Gilberts" in the phonology of the indigenous Gilbertese).[2]
- ^ W. David McIntyre. "The Partition of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands" (PDF). Island Studies Journal, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2012. pp. 135–146. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ a b Reilly Ridgell. Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia. 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95.
- ^ Very often, this name applied only to the southern islands of the archipelago, the northern half being designated as the Scarborough Islands. Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam Webster, 1997. p. 594