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The main wave of Micronesian settlement to the islands now known as KIRIBATI came from the Samoa Islands sometime between the 11th and 14th centuries, but the Samoans were probably not the first settlers. European contact began in 1537, when Kirimati (Christmas Island) was sited by the Spanish. Commercial activity by the English began in the early 19th century. By the 1850s and 1860s, trade ships were visiting the islands regularly. The British declared a protectorate over the Gilbert and Ellice island groups in 1892. During World War II, the Japanese occupied the Gilberts until 1943....
