Banana, Kiribati


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

History

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.
In 2024, a Twitter account 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.

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.