Teraina (written also Teeraina, also known as Washington Island – these two names are constitutional) is a coral atoll in the central Pacific Ocean and part of the Northern Line Islands which belong to Kiribati. Obsolete names of Teraina are New Marquesas, Prospect Island, and New York Island. The island is located approximately 4.71° North latitude and 160.76° West longitude. Teraina differs from most other atolls in the world in that it has a large freshwater lake (Washington Lake), an open lens, concealed within its luxuriant coconut palm forest; this is the only permanent freshwater lake in the whole of Kiribati.
Measuring about 5.4 by 2.1 kilometres (3.4 by 1.3 miles) NW-SE and SW-NE, it has a land area of about 9.55 square kilometres (3.69 square miles); its circumference is about 15 km (9 mi). The island is generally low-lying, with a maximum elevation ASL of about 5 meters (16 feet), while most of the island rises some three metres (10 feet) high; trees in the dense inland forest grow to several times this height however. At the western end of the island is the capital, Tangkore (or Tengkore). There are (as at the 2020 Census) about 1,893 inhabitants, making it the least-populated of the permanently inhabited Northern Line Islands. However, population density (177 per km) is three times as high as on Tabuaeran and vastly more than on the much larger (300-plus km) Kiritimati with its about 15 people/km.
