Phoenix Islands, group of eight islands, 11 sq mi (28 sq km), central Pacific, N of Samoa. The chain comprises a portion of Kiribati Kiribati (kĭr'ĭbăs`), officially Republic of Kiribati (2005 est. pop.
..... Click the link for more information. . The two most important are Kanton Kanton (kăntŏn`, kăn`tŏn), coral atoll, 3.
..... Click the link for more information. (or Abariringa) and Enderbury Island. The other islands include Rawaki (formerly Phoenix), Manra (formerly Sydney), Birnie, McKean, Nikumaroro (formerly Gardner), and Orona (formerly Hull). The islands have virtually no population.

The Phoenix Islands were visited between 1823 and 1840 by British and American explorers, but most of them were annexed by Great Britain in the late 19th cent. After the United States took over Howland and Baker islands in 1935, Britain included (1937) the Phoenix group in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony. In 1938 the United States claimed sovereignty over Kanton and Enderbury, and in 1939 Britain and the United States agreed to exercise joint control over the two islands for a period of 50 years.

Previously uninhabited, Orona, Manra, and Nikumaroro islands were colonized with people from the overcrowded Gilbert Islands between 1938 and 1940. By 1963, however, the three settlements had failed and the entire population was moved to the Solomon Islands. In 2006 the waters (73,800 sq mi/184,700 sq km) surrounding the islands were made a protected area and commercial fishing was banned.

Phoenix Islands

Group of eight small coral atolls, Kiribati. Lying in the west-central Pacific Ocean 1,650 mi (2,650 km) southwest of Hawaii, the low, sandy atolls have a total land area of about 11 sq mi (28 sq km) and were discovered in the 19th century by U.S. whaling ships. Annexed by Britain in 1889, they were joined to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands in 1937. They became part of independent Kiribati in 1979. Kanton is the only inhabited atoll.