Singapore is the highest proportion of Chinese except China, with Chinese accounting for about 75%.
But if we follow overseas regions (non-sovereign countries) , the region with the highest proportion of Chinese is Christmas Island (Australian Overseas Territory). About 80 residents of the island have Chinese ancestry .
▲Christmas Island
However, this Chinese ancestry so many islands are not owned by Australia in history, but belong to Singapore .
Because Christmas Island has historically been part of the British Strait Colony, the capital of is Singapore. The Chinese residents of Christmas Island also mainly come from Singapore.
▲Christmas Island Chaotian Palace
From the map, Christmas Island is not only far from Singapore, but also 1400 kilometers away from Western Australia .
After independence, the area of Singapore has only 733.1 square kilometers, and Christmas Island has an area of 135 square kilometers, accounting for about 20% of Singapore's area today.
So, why did the Christmas Island, which has such a small area, "sell" to Australia, with such a high proportion of Chinese people?
▲The capital of Christmas Island Flying Fish Bay
11. Christmas Island belongs to the Straits Colony
Christmas Island The switch between Singapore (British Straits Colony) and Australia is closely related to British colonial rule.
Christmas Island is a volcanic island with very few rivers on the island and is an uninhabited island. Therefore, no one has ever been involved in Christmas Island for a long time.
▲The terrain of Christmas Island is mainly mountainous, with few rivers, and lack of arable land
Christmas Island Didn't appear in people's sight until the 17th century.
From the 17th century to the 19th century, except for the sporadic island landers , no one has been interested here for a long time.
▲Christmas Island stamps
▲British occupation of Australia
At that time, Britain experienced Industrial revolution , Big capitalists use large factories to implement harsh management and cruel exploitation, resulting in an increasing gap between the rich and the poor in the UK. The number of crimes in the UK has soared.
At that time, European Humanism thoughts were surging, and it was unrealistic to increase death penalty execution. Britain decided to exile the prisoner to the colony . Australia has become an ideal place for exile prisoners because it is far away from Britain and has a dangerous journey.
▲Australia is an ideal choice for exile prisoners
At the time of the UK expanding Australia , it is also constantly eroding the land of South Asian subcontinent . In the 18th century, under the promotion of the British East India Company, was occupied in the Bangladesh region.
In the mid-19th century, India's last state Ode was occupied by British East India Company , and the entire territory of India was annexed by the UK.
▲British Indian
Australia and South Asia After the colonies, Britain began to march towards Southeast Asia , setting its sights on the Indian Ocean- Pacific traffic route-Malay Peninsula , Malay Islands .
At that time, Malay Peninsula and Malay Islands Malay Islands Martial powers were numerous, and they fought for each other, and there was no unified regime.
The UK took advantage of this opportunity to defeat each one and occupied The important deep-water ports of The Strait of Malacca -Melaka, Penang and Singapore.
On November 27, 2026, the UK formed Singapore, Penang and Malacca into " Straits colony ", commonly known as Sanzhou Prefecture .
▲British Straits Colony
At first, the UK assigned Straits Colony to the jurisdiction of India's Bangladesh Province. Although the Straits colony
has a small area, it is the main foreign trade channel on the Malay Peninsula, and therefore occupies an important position in the UK's Far East trade system. Among these three cities, Singapore guards the exit of the Strait of Malacca, and is also a deep-water port, which gradually becomes the center of the Strait colony.
▲Singapore
After that, the UK has turned Malay Peninsula , Northern Kalimantan HTML HTML HTML HTM
China's coastal areas have fewer arable land areas. In order to make a living, the local area has had a tradition of voyage to Southeast Asia since ancient times.
▲The Chinese went to Southeast Asia
After the British occupied Strait colony , in order to balance the local Malay power. Chinese are encouraged to immigrate to the Straits Colony.
With the influx of a large number of Chinese, the proportion of Chinese in the Straits colonies has continued to increase.In Singapore, Chinese replaced Malays and became the main residents of the local area. When the UK expanded toward Southeast Asia , a massive amount of phosphate resources were discovered in Christmas Island. Phosphate is an important fertilizer resource.
Christmas Island, the "own island", has become a fatty meat in the eyes of colonists. Britain hopes to control the region and further control the Indian Ocean.
▲Phosphate
During Christmas Island, Phosphate During Christmas Island, a large number of gold mines were discovered in Australia, attracting a large number of free people from Europe to Australia to hunt for gold. The arrival of a large number of free people has changed Australia's population structure, and free people replaced exiled criminals and became the main population of Australia.
▲Australia's gold mine
The homeless island before the main island - Christmas Island is located between Strait colonies and Australia , and is highly valued by the UK. In 1888, Christmas Island became a British colony.
However, Australia 's economic and political center is in the east. Christmas Island is more than 4000 kilometers away from Melbourne , while Singapore, the Straits Colony, is more than 1300 kilometers away from Christmas Island.
Therefore, the UK classified Christmas Island as Straits colony . This lays the foundation for Singapore's future "directly governed" Christmas Island.
▲Regions under the jurisdiction of the Straits Colony - including Christmas Island
2. Singapore's direct jurisdiction of Christmas Island
Christmas Island The phosphate resources are raw materials for producing fertilizers. Developing phosphates requires a lot of human resources.
In order to develop phosphate resources , the UK encourages poor Chinese in Singapore to go south to develop phosphate resources on Christmas Island. A large number of Chinese people flocked south to Christmas Island , becoming the main residents of the local area.
▲Chinese develop phosphate
At that time, Britain also actively expanded its colonies and spheres of influence in Africa.
In October 1899, in order to dominate the gold and diamond resources of South Africa , the UK and local Boer (descendants of white immigrants) countries broke out in the Boer War .
Although Britain won the Boer War, it also paid a tragic price of 220 million pounds (equivalent to the one-and-a-half-year-old British fiscal revenue ). The UK, which has a fiscal deficit, has gradually weakened its control over overseas colonies .
UK decided to give white colonies Australia , New Zealand and Canada More autonomy.
▲English-British War
On January 1, 1901, Australia Australia The colonial areas were changed to states, and the colonial areas were unified to establish the Australian Federation, which is the prototype of the Australian country.
▲The " Nationality Law" when Australia obtained independence means that the local government has obtained a certain degree of independence
After Australia obtained autonomy, some Australian industrial and mining capital began to enter Christmas Island and became the owners of phosphate mines. These miners demand that Australia obtain Christmas Island.
Australia's administrative division adjustment at that time still required the consent of British Parliament .
Australia submitted an application to the British Parliament to obtain Christmas Island. But at that time, Britain refused Australia's request for control of the Indian Ocean. After the battle with
▲The Westminter Act was issued in 1931, and Australia obtained independence
. Independent Australia inherited the territory of
During World War II , Japan occupied Singapore, the capital of the Strait colony in 1941. In January 1942, the Japanese army occupied Christmas Island. Christmas Island's sovereignty changed from Britain to Japan.
▲The Japanese army occupied Christmas Island
After World War II, Britain, as the victorious country, recaptured the Southeast Asian colonies. The UK makes new adjustments.
On April 1, 1946, the British dissolved the Straits Colony. Malacca and Penang are under the jurisdiction of Malaya . The main Chinese Singapore has become an independent directly under the colony , and has jurisdiction over Christmas Island .
▲After the war, Singapore colonies, including Christmas Island,
3. The UK took the lead, and the transaction was reached
After World War II, British capital withdrew from Christmas Island, .
In 1949, when the government used British capital to evacuate , it acquired the ownership of the Christmas Island phosphate mine . The Australian government handed it over to Australian mining companies to operate.
▲The locally developed phosphate
After the war, the British adjusted the administrative regions of the colonies. Singapore became a separate colony of (and governed by Christmas Island).
The rest of the Malay Peninsula was merged into " United Malaya " in 1948, and the capital Kuala Lumpur . In August 1957, United Malaya took the lead in declared independence and became a member of the Commonwealth.
▲Western Malaysia is the United Nations of Malaya
With the further deepening of the National liberation movement, Singapore Autonomous Movement caused uneasiness in Australia.
, especially the Australian mine owners on Christmas Island , are worried that their mine will be nationalized in the future independent Singapore.
Therefore, Australia hopes to gain sovereignty over Christmas Island before Singapore is independent. With the support of Australian miners, the Australian Parliament filed an application to the UK for the acquisition of Christmas Island in 1957.
The residents of Singapore and Christmas Island are mainly Chinese. The UK does not want Singapore, which is mainly Chinese, to have Christmas Island after independence.
▲Singapore architecture in the second largest city of Christmas Island
Compared with Singapore, the British Parliament tends to hand over ownership of Christmas Island to Australia.
Singapore Although reluctantly "territory" was exchanged by the United Kingdom and Australia. But Singapore's top priority at that time was to gain autonomy.
For the cause of "autonomousness" and independence, Singapore had to acquiesce the conclusion of the transaction. According to the Christmas Island Act 1958, Singapore received £2.9 million in phosphate compensation. At this point, Singapore "sells" Christmas Island to Australia.
▲Australia commemorated the acquisition of Christmas Island stamps
On September 16, 1963, British Malay colony officially announced its independence. The four political entities, Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak, form a new country - Malaysia .
▲Singapore turned out to be a state of Malaysia
After independence, Malaysia's Malay population barely exceeds half, and Chinese are the second largest ethnic group, accounting for 40%. The proportion of Chinese in Singapore accounts for 75%. This is contrary to the " Malay supremacy " pursued by Malaysia.
In the end, Malaysia kicked Singapore out, and the proportion of Chinese in Malaysia dropped from 40% to 25%.
▲Singapore announces independence
After Singapore becomes independent, it must first solve its own survival problem , especially in the United States and other Western world .
Christmas Island is too far from Singapore , and it is separated from Singapore by Indonesian . In addition, the national strength is weak, Singapore recognizes the "1958 Christmas Island Act" , and recognizes that Christmas Island belongs to Australia.
▲Christmas Island is 1350 kilometers away from Singapore
After Australia obtained Christmas Island, it was classified as under the jurisdiction of Western Australia. However, Christmas Island is too far from Canberra (capital) and Perth (capital of Western Australia).
▲Western Australia
In 1992, Australia established Christmas Island counties as Non-autonomous territory . The county belongs to Western Australia but is managed by officials directly under the jurisdiction of the federal government. The permanent residents of the island are considered Australian citizens , but participating in Australian elections is classified as Northern Territory region.
▲Christmas Island Flag (Unofficial)
As Australia The economy continues to flourish, Australia has attracted many immigrants from all over the world. The overseas territory of Christmas Island has become an immigration resettlement center, so the population mobility of Christmas Island is very high.
According to the Australian census, the total population of Christmas Island is 1,863 (including migrant population), of which 21.2% are Chinese (80% based on permanent population). The characteristics of Chinese on the island have been preserved to this day. In addition to speaking English and Chinese, many residents can also speak Cantonese and Minnan dialects.
Chinese communities such as "Chinese Mansion" and "Banshan Mansion" on the island, as well as Chinese temples and ancestral halls, are all witnesses of Chinese living here.
▲Chinese logo of Christmas Island
Australia After receiving Christmas Island, local economic development is mainly phosphate development. With the decline of phosphate mining and the strengthening of environmental awareness, the Australian government spent a lot of money to build 70% of the island's land into national parks.
In addition, the Australian government has built Christmas Island Airport as a bridge connecting the islands and Australia's native place. Today's Christmas Island economy has become a place for many tourists to check in with its unique red crab migration and good diving resources.
▲Red crab migration on Christmas Island
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