Kiribati Colonial Records

British Colonization (1893-1970s)
In 1892, local Gilbertese authorities on each of the Gilbert Islands agreed to Captain E.H.M. Davis commanding HMS Royalist of the Royal Navy declaring them part of a British protectorate, along with the nearby Ellice Islands. They were administered by a resident commissioner based first on Makin Islands starting in 1893. The independence of Kiribati was on 12 July 1979. The name Kiribati was adopted in 1979 at independence. It is the Gilbertese rendition of Gilberts, the plural of the English name of the nation's main archipelago, the Gilbert Islands.