Christmas Island

noun

1. an Australian island in the Indian Ocean, about 190 miles (300 km) S of Java. 52 sq. mi. (135 sq. km).
2. one of the Line Islands, in Kiribati (Gilbert Islands), in the central Pacific; sovereignty disputed by U.S.: largest atoll in the Pacific; former U.S. test center for nuclear warheads. About 220 sq. mi. (575 sq. km).

Christmas Island

noun

1. the former name (until 1981) of Kiritimati
2. an island in the Indian Ocean, south of Java: administered by Singapore (1900–58), now by Australia; phosphate mining. Pop: 1496 (2013 est). Area: 135 sq km (52 sq miles)

Example Sentences

When 18-year-old John Morris stood for the first time on the Pacific’s Christmas Island in 1956, he had no idea that the destructive forces of nature he would witness, harnessed for military power, would hang like a mushroom cloud over his life forever.

From BBC

The 1958 report from Christmas Island to the nuclear programme’s secret UK headquarters says that there were blood tests for Squadron Leader Terry Gledhill showing “gross irregularity”.

From BBC

John Morris’s military medical file, for instance, is missing regular blood tests from Christmas Island that he says were part of the regime.

From BBC

Terry Quinlan, who served in the Royal Army Service Corps on Christmas Island in 1958, told the BBC he had developed cataracts, hearing loss and heart problems following his exposure to the nuclear bomb blasts.

From BBC

And fellow campaigner Brian Unthank, who served as a cook on Christmas Island from 1957, said he had had 90 skin cancers removed.

From BBC