Chapter I Intro & Objectives - SPREP

PHOENIX ISLANDS PROTECTED AREA MANAGEMENT PLAN
Chapter III. Background, 2. Human Activities
Draft 1 March 2007
When A.F. Ellis was young, he and his brother and three natives worked on Orona (Hull)
(Ellis 1946). This was in 1887 (Anon. 1940b; Ellis 1937). The other seven Phoenix Islands
were uninhabited (Ellis 1946; see also Morrell 1960).
Based on Ellis 1946 and other sources, the following table was assembled regarding the
population of the Phoenix Islands between 1877 to 2000 (see Table III-2.6 below).
TABLE III-2.6. Population of the Phoenix Islands, 1877 to 2000.
*1 *1 *2 *3 *4 *5 *6 *7 *2 *8 *9 *10 *11 *12
1877 1881 1921 1931 1938 1947 1963 1968 1973 1978 1985 1990 1995 2000
Abariringa 0 0 0 6 230 205 0 0 24 45 83 61
Birnie 0 0 0 0
Enderbury 0 0 0 4 0
Manra 0 0 16 130 294 0
McKean 0 0 0 0
Nikumaroro 0 0 0 79 230 0 0
Orona 5 5 15 432 530 583 0 0
Rawaki 0 0 0 0
Total 5 5 31 572 1,133 1,018 0 0 0 24 45 83 61
PI Total *13 989 31 984 1,018 0 0 0 24 45 83 61
*sources:
1. Ellis 1946.
2. No breakdown of populaton by island was identified.
3. For each island see Bryan 1951.
4. Abriringa - Anon. 1938c; Enderbury - Schuyler 1939; Manra - Hydrographic Office 1940; Orona -
Bryan 1951.
5. For each island, see Bryan 1951.
6. Abariringa, Nikumaroro, Orona - McArthur and McCaig 1963.
7. Abariringa, Nikumaroro, Orona - Zwart and Groenewegen 1968.
8. Abaririrnga, Manra, Nikumaroro, Orona - Kiribati 1983.
9. Abariringa - ADB 2002.
10. Abariringa - ADB 2002; Statistics Office 1991.
11. Abariringa - ADB 2002.
12. Abariringa - ADB 2002.
13. Ministry of Home Affairs and Decentralisation 1978; Statistics Office 2002a and b.
The Phoenix group was annexed by the British between 1888 and 1889 (UN Department of
Political Affairs, Trusteeship and Decolonization 1979; for most Phoenix Islands annexation
was in 1889 according to Ellis 1937 and Follett 1943). The symbolic acts of declaring
protectorates were performed on each island (except Nikumaroro (Gardner) by the H.M.S.
Egeria (Orent and Reinsch 1941). This included a formal declaration and the hoisting of the
British flag. The reason for these annexations was the proposed trans-Pacific cable (Ward
1948; Robson 1956) that provided a new use for these small isolated islands. These
annexations were at the request of Mr. Arundel (Bryan 1941; urgent request according to
Ellis 1937).
Laws enacted in accordance with a Pacific order in council of 1893 were applied to the
Phoenix Islands when they were annexed by the British (Office of Territories 1963).
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