Poland, Kiribati

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Location of Poland on Kiritimati (Christmas Island), Kiribati
Location of Poland on Kiritimati (Christmas Island), Kiribati

Poland is one of four villages on the island of Kiritimati (Christmas Island), Kiribati. The village was named after a Polish explorer who aided the villagers.

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[edit] Location

Poland is located on the westernmost part of the island, at geographic coordinates: 1°51′52″N 157°33′07″W / 1.86444, -157.55194Coordinates: 1°51′52″N 157°33′07″W / 1.86444, -157.55194.

[edit] Demographics

Poland's population is 235 people (Census 2005), by far the smallest of the four inhabited villages on the island.

[edit] Name

The village was named in honour of a Pole whose first name was Stanisław (Stanislaus). Having arrived with an American merchant vessel that was plying the copra trade at a time, when the local inhabitants were having difficulties irrigating their palm tree plantations, Stanisław helped them solve the problem. Accordingly, the village was renamed to its present-day name in his honour. Also, a church was built there and dedicated under the auspices of Saint Stanislaus, and a bay in the lagoon was named Saint Stanislaus Bay. However, the last name of the Polish benefactor was not remembered.

Education In Poland there is a primary school with three main teachers and 45 students.

[edit] Sources

  • R. Antoszewski: "Pacyficzna Polska" (English: Pacific Poland), Kurioza naukowe/Scientific curiosities, ISSN 1176-7545; year VI; No 1033. April 2005, v.55. On the web: 2005-05-29. Titirangi, Auckland, Nowa Zelandia. Link accessed on 2007-10-04. (Polish)
  • http://www.travelbit.pl/relacje/relacje.php?tom=VI&id=31 - another webpage about the village of Poland: Przez świat tom VI (Polish: Across the World volume VI). Link fails with a database error. However, id=30, id=32, etc. all work. The cited source appears to have been removed. Link accessed on 2007-10-04. (Polish)
  • Wojciech Dąbrowski: "Od Kiribati do Nauru" (Polish: From Kiribati to Nauru). Link accessed on 2007-10-04. (Polish)

The 5/6 class of the Poland Primary School and the head teacher at Poland Primary School.

[edit] External links

This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding Polish Wikipedia article as of 2007-10-04.

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