Banana, Village in Kiritimati, Kiribati
Banana is a village on Kiritimati Island located close to Cassidy International Airport. It sits on a coral atoll in the Pacific and functions as the main arrival point for most visitors to the island.
The village took its name in 1962 during Operation Dominic when American military activity took place on the island. This naming reflects a period when Kiritimati served a strategic purpose in the Pacific.
The settlement serves as a meeting point between the airport and the wider island, where locals and visitors naturally cross paths. Daily routines and local practices shape how people experience and use this central location.
The settlement operates in the UTC+14 time zone and is most easily reached by plane through the airport. Visitors should expect tropical weather and come prepared for heat and humidity throughout the year.
The village shares the island with two other settlements that also bear names of distant cities. This unusual naming pattern makes Kiritimati a rare example of how geography and history intersect in the Pacific.
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