The Gilbert Islands are sixteen atolls and one high island (Banaba, formerly called Ocean) that constitute the main archipelago of Kiribati (from which the modern Republic takes its name), in the central Pacific Ocean.
Their name, given in 1820 by an Estonian admiral in the service of the Tsar (Krusenstern) and the French captain Louis-Isidore Duperrey (under the French form of îles Gilbert), dates back to their discovery in 1788 by British captains Thomas Gilbert and Marshall (the latter's name was given to the nearby Marshall Islands). But as early as 1606, Pedro Fernandes de Queirós discovered Butaritari and Makin. The name Gilberts (plural in English), pronounced /Kiribas/ by the Gilbertese, was spelled Kiribati following the spelling rules used in Gilbertese. This name became the official name of the Republic on July 12, 1979.
The Gilbert Islands were a British protectorate from 1892 and a British colony from 1916 (along with the Ellice Islands, which later became Tuvalu) until 1979. Occupied by the Japanese on December 10, 1941, they were liberated by the Americans in November 1943 after a brief campaign.
The Gilbert Islands are: Abaiang, Abemama, Aranuka, Arorae, Banaba, Beru, Butaritari, Kuria, (Little) Makin, Maiana, Marakei, Nikunau, Nonouti, Onotoa, Tabiteuea, Tamana, and Tarawa (where the Republic's capital, South Tarawa, is located).
Face value | Family number | English name | Scientific name
1976.01
01.07.1976
Definitives
6c
70
Pacific Reef Heron Egretta sacra
Philately has been considered as an "auxiliary science of history" because it is based on the general principles of other sciences, which in turn contribute to enrich it. It acquires knowledge of the sciences, of the arts, of languages and opens an immense road of social relations through all countries. This science broadens broad horizons of culture, discovers artistic temperaments and offers the interest of the new and the unknown, while performing a positive therapeutic wor.
