Christmas Island is one of the islands of the Indian Ocean, south of Indonesia and some distance northwest of Australia, of which it is a territory.

» Climate

Tropical; heat and humidity moderated by trade winds.

» Landscape

Steep cliffs along coast rise abruptly to central plateau. Rain forest covers the majority of the island, with small areas of the island under rehabilitation from mining. Sandy to Rocky beaches scattered along the coastline of the island separated by steep limestone cliffs.