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The Gilbert Islands (;〔Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95.〕 formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill Islands〔Very often, this name applied only to the southern islands of the archipelago, the northern half being designated as the Scarborough Islands. ''Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary''. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam Webster, 1997. p. 594〕) are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean. They form the main part of the Republic of Kiribati ("Kiribati" is the Kiribatese rendition of "Gilberts" 〔). ==Geography== The atolls and islands of the Gilbert Islands are arranged in an approximate north-to-south line. As the crow flies it is approximately between the northernmost island, Makin, and the southernmost, Arorae. In a geographical sense, the equator serves as the dividing line between the northern Gilbert Islands and the southern Gilbert Islands. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) considers the Gilberts wholly within the South Pacific Ocean, however. Another method of grouping the Gilbert Islands is by former administrative districts, the Northern, Central, and Southern Gilberts (Tarawa once was a separate district as well). A group of the southern Gilberts is called the Kingsmill Group, a name that in the 19th century applied to all of the Gilberts.〔 The Gilberts form a continuous chain of seamounts with the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands to the north. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gilbert Islands」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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