Gilbert and Ellice Islands 12 January 1916 by the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Order in Council, 1915. Fanning Island and Washington Island also became included in the colony together with the islands of the Union Islands (now known as Tokelau); Christmas Island was included in 1919 but was contested by the U.S. under its Guano Islands Act of 1856. The Union Islands were transferred to New Zealand in 1926. The Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony continued to be administered by a Resident Commissioner. In 1930 the Resident Commissioner, Arthur Grimble, issued revised laws, "Regulations for the good Order and Cleanliness of the Gilbert and
History of the Pacific Islands Tahiti, the islands were annexed as an overseas territory of France 27. “Reconstructing History: Literature, History, and Anthropology in the Pacific.” Ed. Cynthia Klekar. Special Issue of "The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation" 49, no. 3 (Fall, 2008). Introduction, 193-96. History of the Pacific Islands History of the Pacific Islands covers the history of the islands in the Pacific Ocean. Easter Island is one of the youngest inhabited territories on Earth, and for most of the History of Easter Island it was the most isolated inhabited territory on Earth. Its inhabitants, the Rapanui, have endured famines and big push factors,