Kiribati has been the talk of the town on X recently. But what has seen the small Pacific island gain traction on the internet?
Kiribati, also known as Christmas Island, is a collection of 33 coral islands in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. With a population of nearly 129,000 people and a total area of around 800 kilometres squared, it is a small nation — with a big social media following.
The country has gained major traction on the web, with the account @KiribatiGov now boasting more than 30,000 followers on X, formerly Twitter.
The handle which claims to belong to the “Official Account for the Republic of Kiribati” newfound prominence comes from an exchange regarding its odd collection place names.
“I think Kiribati just gave up when it came time to name cities,” wrote X user @VoxDocVoxDei, posting a picture on February 18 questioning the strange names of villages on Kiritimati, namely Poland, Paris, London, and - improbably - Banana.
The post racked up more than 28 million views, with hundreds of people reacting to the hilarious meme in the comments.
“Never heard of a city named banana before. Original AF,” one person wrote, while another shared: “Is this a real place? This is so funny, I want to go.”
However, one reaction saw the meme explode on the internet, and it was a repost by Kiribati itself.
As a result, the small island nation has been put on the map, with many keen to visit the island responsible for the hilarious posts.
“I want to go to Kiribati now”, wrote one person on X.
Another chimed in: “It’s the best thing since dunno when.”
Although the account has been disavowed by the Kiribati government, some speculated it was being run someone with connections to within President Taneti Maamau’s office. Either way, they said “they’ve gone from a few hundred followers to 20K in a heartbeat and have comprehensively won the internet.”
I'm not sure exactly who is running the new-ish official account for Kiribati @KiribatiGov (murmur is someone in Maamau's office, I'd welcome clarity from the author) but they've gone from a few hundred followers to 20K in a heartbeat and have comprehensively won the internet pic.twitter.com/W4KrQke56B
Despite claiming to be “The Official Account for the Republic of Kiribati” the government says it is unaware of who is behind the messages, and has contacted the social media platform X to address the issue.
For now the Banana memes continue.
Although there are hints it may have links to New Zealand, with several reposts from Kiwi media stories regarding the island, including from RNZ Pacific.
Why is there a city called Banana in Kiribati
So, what is the story behind Kiribati’s slightly odd city names?
London was initially named Londres by French priest Emmanuel Rougier, who was leasing the island from Britain from 1917 to 1939, and wanted to honour the island’s British connection. The island was reverted to Britain in 1929 and Londres was anglicised to London. He then named a village Paris when he was homesick for France.
Poland was named in honour of Polish mechanic Stanisław Pełczyński, who greatly aided the island’s coconut plantation by suggesting a modified irrigation system that could effectively water palm trees during the dry season, and also helped build it.
