Nonouti is an atoll

Atoll

An atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...

 and district

District

Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...

 of Kiribati

Kiribati

Kiribati , officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. The permanent population exceeds just over 100,000 , and is composed of 32 atolls and one raised coral island, dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometres, straddling the...

. The atoll is located in the South Gilbert Islands

Gilbert Islands

The Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are the main part of Republic of Kiribati and include Tarawa, the site of the country's capital and residence of almost half of the population.-Geography:The atolls and islands of the Gilbert Islands...

, 38 km north of Tabiteuea, and 250 km south of Tarawa. The eastern side of the atoll is the primary permanent landmass. There is an islet on the northwest side of the atoll called Noumatong. Noumatong is uninhabited and is reserved as a bird sanctuary. The eastern area of the atoll consists of tiny islet

Islet

An islet is a very small island.- Types :As suggested by its origin as islette, an Old French diminutive of "isle", use of the term implies small size, but little attention is given to drawing an upper limit on its applicability....

s and island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

s which form a continuous line. The atoll is the third largest in the Gilbert Islands with a length of 35 km and a width of 15 km.

The government station on the island is located in the village of Matang. The island clerk is the highest ranking government official on the island. The former president

President of Kiribati

The President of Kiribati is the head of state and head of government of Kiribati.Following a general election, by which citizens elect the members of the House of Assembly, members select from their midst "not less than 3 nor more than 4 candidates" for the presidency. No other person may stand...

, Ieremia Tabai

Ieremia Tabai

Sir Ieremia Tienang Tabai GCMG AO was the first President of Kiribati. He had been described as being the most able leader of the Pacific island states....

, is from Nonouti.

Nonuti hosts a number of primary schools and one Junior Secondary School, and is home to George Eastman High School, run privately by the Kiribati Protestant Church.

The largest meeting house, mwaneaba, in Kiribati is in the village of Taboiaki. This is where the first Catholic missionary was established in Kiribati in the 1880s.

In the late 19th century, Nonouti was briefly conquered by the king of Abemama

Abemama

Abemama is an atoll in the central part of the Kiribati Group located 152 kilometres southeast of Tarawa and just north of the Equator.- Geography :...

, Tembinok'

Tembinok'

Tembinok’, or Tem Binoka, was the ruler of Abemama, Aranuka and Kuria, in the Gilbert Islands, during the late 19th century. Tembinok’'s grandfather, Teñkoruti , was the ruler of a village on Abemama, which was then experiencing devastating feuds...

. The latter was driven out of Nonouti by a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

warship.

The name Nonouti means to "wake up early to go fishing".