The island takes its name from Captain William Mynors of the East India Ship Company. He arrived at the island on Christmas Day, 1643, but was unable to land. Forty-five years later, in 1688, Captain William Dampier managed to land, and he and two crewmen were the first recorded human visitors to Christmas Island. The island was annexed by the British in the late 19th Century, and was used as a phosphate mine. The Japanese conquered and occupied the island during World War II. After the war, the island briefly belonged to Singapore, before Australia bought it in 1957 for 2.9 million pounds. October 1, 1958, when the purchase was officially completed, is still celebrated here as Territory Day.

Today, Christmas Island is a naturalist's paradise. Sixty-three percent of the land is protected as a national park. Inside the park, hundreds of species of flora and fauna indigenous to the island flourish. Only 500 people live here year round, and their presence is dwarfed by over one hundred million red crabs that call Christmas Island home. In fact, the crabs yearly migration to the sea to spawn may just be the most impressive natural wonder left on Earth. The event has attracted naturalists, scientists, and curiosity seekers from around the world.