Kiritimati Atoll,coral island in the NorthernLine Islands, part ofKiribati, in the west-centralPacific Ocean. It is the largest island of purely coral formation in the world, having a circumference of about 100 miles (160 km).

Kiritimati Atoll was sighted on Christmas Eve in 1777 by the English navigator CaptainJames Cook. (Kiritimati is the Gilbertese spelling of Christmas.) Although claimed by theUnited States under theGuano Act of 1856, theatoll was incorporated into theGilbert and Ellice Islands Colony byGreat Britain in 1919. Kiritimati played a role duringWorld War II forAllied forces, who used it as an important refueling station formilitary aircraft en route fromHawaii to the South Pacific. Its ownership remained indispute until 1979, when Kiritimati became a part of independent Kiribati.

The atoll has port facilities and a large government-ownedcopra plantation. A small international airport is located near London, the main settlement, on the northwest coast of the island. Kiritimati was an operations base fornuclear weapons tests by the British in 1957–58 and by the United States in 1962. Its position near theEquator made its surrounding waters a favoured site for sea launches ofEarth satellites beginning in the late 1990s. Kiritimati was designated a wildlife sanctuary in 1975. Area 150 square miles (388 square km). Pop. (2010) 5,586.

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