# Geography question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 18, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-question/219665 "2003-12-18T01:15:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SeekingTruth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@SeekingTruth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeekingTruth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-question/219665/1 "2003-12-18T01:15:05Z")
I swear I don’t know where my neice’s teacher comes up with these. 1. US forces built an airstrip here during WWII 2. Formed by a coral reef 3. US and Britain used it as a nuclear test site 4. discovered in 1777 5 people speak gilbetese (sp?) Any help? And if you foind this one, PLEASE tell me how to find this obscure crap, and how a 7th grade teacher could possibly expect a 12 y/o to find this w/o internet access ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-question/219665/2 "2003-12-18T01:27:27Z")
Ok, punch gilbetese into google. It says “did you mean gilbertese?”. Search for gilbertese. Discover [Kiribati](http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/kr.html). Terrain, check. Nuclear testing, check. Discovered 1777, check. ---
**Author:** ![mikelatorres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b782af/32.png) [@mikelatorres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikelatorres)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-question/219665/3 "2003-12-18T01:30:41Z")
Christmas Islands - Kiribati ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-question/219665/4 "2003-12-18T01:31:10Z")
Oops hit submit too soon. Search for kiribati coral nuclear 1777, discover **Christmas Island** ---
**Author:** ![SeekingTruth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@SeekingTruth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeekingTruth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-question/219665/5 "2003-12-18T01:31:49Z")
God, you guys are good!!! I’m still trying to learn google-speak, more of an [Ask.com](http://Ask.com) guy still. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-question/219665/6 "2003-12-18T02:18:51Z")
Kiribati, pronounced “keer-ree-bahss” is how the word “Gilberts” sounds in gilbertese. Likewise, Christmas Island comes out as “Kiritimati” in gilbertese. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-question/219665/7 "2003-12-18T03:12:25Z")
Hmm… let’s see that assignment… Identifiers 1 and 2 could mean almost anywhere in the WW2 Pacific Theatre of operations. Identifier 3 would be a better starting point in the old-fashioned paper-encyclopedia world. Read enough articles on the history of nuclear testing, and focus on island testing, and you will run into Bikini, Eniwetok, and Christmas Island. Yet 1 and 2 are still worthless there. In the absence of a parsing search engine, the date in Identifier 4 is only useful at the end, to confirm, but you’d aloms have to already be reading the article on the history of Christmas Island to find it Ientifier 5 pretty much requires you start with a really thick dictionary that will even bother to include this seldom-used word, and tell you it means of or referring to the Gilbert Islands. _Then_ it would be a short hop-and-skip to find you need to go to the Encyclopedia article on the nation of Kiribati. Combine knowledge gleaned from #5 and #3 with confirmation of #4 in the article on Christmas (Kirimati) Island. BTW there is ANOTHER Christmas Island, an Australian dependency entirely unrelated to Kirimati. THAT could be a pitfall in the research if the student does not pause to think it may be more than one place with that name. So, a non-internet kid would need access to: A good thorough dictionary A current copy of the World Almanac A decent encyclopedia or even better two or three of them, including one higher-end one Some background info from the general course on geography so far, to at least give a notion of what is the general thrust (e.g. that 1 and 2 means it’s a South Pacific location) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geography-question/219665/8 "2003-12-18T11:44:31Z")
Just to add that the official name these days is **Kiritimati** , which is the local spelling of “Christmas”. It helps to stop confusion with the other Christmas Island. And Gilbertese is known as **I-Kiribati** these days.