This category holds sites related to Christmas Island, a dependent area of <a href="/Regional/Oceania/Australia/">Australia</a> in the Indian Ocean. This should not be confused with another Christmas Island which is part of <a href="/Regional/Oceania/Kiribati/">Kiribati</a>'s Line Islands Group in the Pacific Ocean. Christmas Island was discovered and named on <a href="/Society/Holidays/Christmas/">Christmas Day</a> in 1643. The <a href="/Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom/">United Kingdom</a> annexed and began settlement in 1888, and subsequently transferred sovereignty over the island to Australia in 1958. Historically, much of Christmas Island's economy was driven by phosphate mines, but tourism is increasing rapidly. Christmas Island is just 135 square kilometers, located 300 kilometres south of <a href="/Regional/Asia/Indonesia/">Indonesia</a> and over 1500 kilometres northwest of Australia in the Indian Ocean. The population in 2001 was 2,771. The largest ethnic groups are Chinese, Malay, and European, respectively.