Lighthouses of Kiribati

The Republic of Kiribati (pronounced "keer-ih-bahs") includes 33 coral atolls scattered across a vast stretch of the central Pacific Ocean. It includes all or part of three groups of islands. In the west is the former British colony known as the Gilbert Islands. The Phoenix Islands are in the central part of the country and the Line Islands lie to the east. Many of the atolls of the Phoenix and Line Islands were formerly claimed by both Britain and the U.S., and those two countries administered several of them jointly until Kiribati was granted its independence in 1979. In September of that year, in the Treaty of Tarawa, the U.S. acknowledged the sovereignty of Kiribati over 14 islands formerly claimed by the United States, including Kanton (Canton) and Enderbury Islands.

The total population of Kiribati is about 120,000. More than half of the population lives on the Tarawa atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and South Tarawa is the capital of the country.

The U.S. retains ownership of five atolls and islands on the northern edge of Kiribati: Howland and Baker Islands in the Phoenix Islands and Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll, and Jarvis Island in the Line Islands. Lighthouses of these islands are listed on the U.S. Pacific Remote Islands page.

The Kiribati Port Authority maintains navigational aids at Tarawa and at Christmas Island (Kiritimati) in the Phoenix group..

ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volumes K and M of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 111.

General Sources
World of Lighthouses - Kiribati
Photos by various photographers available from Lightphotos.net.
Online List of Lights - Kiribati - Vol. M and Vol. K
Photos by various photographers posted by Alexander Trabas. Volume M has lights north of the Equator and Volume K has lights south of the Equator.
Navionics Charts
Navigation chart for Tarawa.


Kanton Island Light, 1976
Lightphotos.net photo contributed by D. Koller

Gilbert Islands Lighthouses
The atoll of Tarawa includes the capital and main population center of Kiribati; it has a population of about 65,000 (half the population of the country). It is quite unusual among atolls in having a deep natural opening in the surrounding reef and a lagoon deep enough for moderately large ships. Tarawa was the site of a bloody World War II battle in November 1943.

* Tarawa Northwest Point
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 21.5 m (70 ft); white light, 4 s on, 16 s off. Approx. 20 m (66 ft) skeletal tower. No photo available and the tower is not conspicuous in Google's satellite view. Located at Buariki on the northern tip of the Tarawa atoll. Site presumably open, tower closed. Admiralty M8508; NGA 11076.
[Betio Wharf]
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 16 m (53 ft); continuous red light. Approx. 12 m (39 ft) mast. No photo available and the mast is not seen in Google's satellite view. Located on the main wharf of the harbor at Betio in South Tarawa. Site status unknown. Admiralty M8515; NGA 11084.
* Temakin Point (Betio)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 32 m (105 ft); white flash every 8 s. 33.5 m (110 ft) communications tower painted with red and white horizontal bands. Itaaka Namai has a 2017 photo and Google has a street view and a satellite view. Betio, the islet on the southwestern tip of the Tarawa atoll, was the scene of ferocious fighting during the Battle of Tarawa in World War II. Located at the southwestern tip of Betio. Site presumably open, tower closed. Admiralty M8510; NGA 11080.

Phoenix Islands Lighthouses
The Phoenix Islands are uninhabited except for a small settlement on Kanton.

Enderbury Island
1938. Inactive. Approx. 9 m (30 ft) round concrete tower painted with red and white horizontal bands. Formerly all white, the lighthouse has been repainted in recent years. A closeup photo dated 2010 is available, Wikimedia has an undated distant photo by Cameron Kepler, and the tower is barely visible in Google's satellite view. Enderbury Island is an uninhabited coral island 63 km (40 mi) east southeast of Kanton. The island was mined for guano by Americans in the 1870s and by British in the 1880s. Like Kanton it was settled briefly by Americans in the years leading up to World War II, but it has been uninhabited since 1942. Enderbury does not have an open lagoon. The lighthouse is on the beach on the southwest side of the island. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower status unknown.
* Kanton (Canton) Island (Abariringa)
1938. Reactivated; focal plane 6 m (20 ft); occulting white light, period unknown. 6 m (20 ft) round rubblestone tower. Lightphotos.net has a 1976 photo contributed by D. Koller (also seen at the top of this page), a 2015 photo is available commercially, the San Diego Air and Space Museum has a historic photo and Google has a satellite view. Kanton Island, formerly spelled Canton, is one of the atolls in the Phoenix group that was claimed by both the U.S. and Britain. In 1939 the two countries agreed to joint sovereignty over the island. American settlers arrived on the previously uninhabited island in March 1938. Pan American Airways built an airfield in 1939 and used Canton as a refueling stop for trans-Pacific flights in 1940-41 and from 1946 to 1958. The U.S. space agency NASA operated a spacecraft tracking station on the atoll from 1960 to 1965, and the U.S. Air Force continued the station for tracking missile tests until 1976. The U.S. surrendered its claim to the island in 1979 in favor of newly-independent Kiribati. Shortly thereafter, the new government of Kiribati settled a small community on the atoll; the current population is about 25. The light tower appears to be in good condition and the Admiralty announced its reactivation in September 2019. Located on the south side of the main lagoon entrance, on the west side of the atoll. Site open, tower status unknown. ARLHS CKB-001; Admiralty K4769.

Line Islands Lighthouses
Kiritimati (Christmas Island)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 39 m (128 ft); continuous red light. Approx. 35 m (115 ft) skeletal tower painted with red and white horizontal bands. No photo available but Google has a satellite view. A map of the island also locates the light on the north side of the lagoon entrance, and this is consistent with NGA's listing, but Google's satellite view does not reveal a tower at that location. Navionics charts lights at both locations. Kiritimati (pronounced "Kirismas") is the principal atoll of the Line Islands. Formerly administered jointly by the U.S. and Britain as a military base, the atoll has an airport and a population of more than 7300. Site location and status unknown. Admiralty M8536; NGA 11100.
Tabuaeran (Fanning Island, Greig Memorial)
1957(?). Active(?); focal plane 9 m (30 ft); continuous white light. 9 m (30 ft) square stone monument topped by a short pole. The Admiralty list says that a light is shown "on request," presumably from the top of the pole. Beth Poltis's photo is at right, a 2007 photo and a view from the sea are available, the light is visible in Wikimedia's view of the lagoon entrance, and Google has a distant satellite view. Tabuaeran, or Fanning Island, was uninhabited when it was annexed by Great Britain in 1888. Today it has a population of about 2500 tending coconut plantations. The Greig family were planters and traders on the atoll. The British blasted a lagoon entrance on the west side of the island, and the monument is located on Weston Point on the south side of the entrance. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty M8528; NGA 11108.

Greig Memorial, Tabuaeran, August 2004
photo copyright Beth Poltis; used by permission

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Notable faux lighthouses:

Adjoining pages: North: U.S. Pacific Remote Islands | West: Marshall Islands

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Posted August 28, 2005. Checked and revised September 18, 2023. Lighthouses: 6. Site copyright 2023 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.