Nonouti is an atoll and district of Kiribati. The atoll is located in the South Gilbert Islands, 38 km north of Tabiteuea, and 250 km south of Tarawa. The eastern side of the atoll is the primary permanent landmass. There is an islet on the northwest side of the atoll called Noumatong. Noumatong is uninhabited and is reserved as a bird sanctuary. The eastern area of the atoll consists of tiny islets and islands which form a continuous line. The atoll is the third largest in the Gilbert Islands with a length of 35 km and a width of 15 km.
The government station on the island is located in the village of Matang. The island clerk is the highest ranking government official on the island. The former president, Ieremia Tabai, is from Nonouti.
Nonuti hosts a number of primary schools and one Junior Secondary School, and is home to George Eastman High School, run privately by the Kiribati Protestant Church.
The largest meeting house, mwaneaba, in Kiribati is in the village of Taboiaki. This is where the first Catholic missionary was established in Kiribati in the 1880s.
In the late 19th century, Nonouti was briefly conquered by the king of Abemama, Tembinok'. The latter was driven out of Nonouti by a British warship.[1]
The name Nonouti means to "wake up early to go fishing".
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