Banana, Kiribati

For other uses, see Banana (disambiguation) § Places.

Banana
Village
Kiritimati island
Banana
Coordinates: 1°58′58″N157°21′49″W / 1.9827°N 157.3637°W / 1.9827; -157.3637
Country	Kiribati
Local council	Kiritimati
Population  (2015)
• Total	1,209
Time zone	UTC+14

Banana is a village in Kiribati, located in the northeast of the island of Kiritimati, within the archipelago of Line Islands. It is located close to Cassidy International Airport.

Name

In 1962, when over 4,000 American servicemen were on the island as part of Operation Dominic, the village became known as Banana for unclear reasons. ^{[1] [ failed verification ]}

Demographics

According to the 2015 census, Banana was inhabited by 1,209 people, making it the third most populous of the four villages on the island. This includes 567 children aged 0-17, 529 people aged 18-49, and 113 people over 50 years of age. ^[2]

Social media incident

In 2024, a Twitter account (@KiribatiGov) which had successfully impersonated the Kiribati government for some time, went viral after responding, "Fine. You're not invited." to a post making fun of the village's name. ^{[3] [4]}

References

1. Scott, Derek A., ed. (1993). "Teeb'aki, Republic of Kiribati" (PDF). A Directory of Wetlands in Oceania (Report). [i] Slimbridge, UK; [ii] Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: [i]  International Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Bureau; [ii] Asian Wetland Bureau. pp. 199–228. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 August 2018.
2. "Report on the Kiribati 2015 Census of Population and Housing" (PDF).
3. Dingle, Sarah (2024-02-25). "How a man faked Kiribati government's X account". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
4. "Kiribati's government not responsible for viral post, sorry". France 24. 2024-02-21. Retrieved 2024-08-19.