Christmas Island
Christmas Island is an external territory of Australia, in Australia and New Zealand. UN Tourism publishes no arrivals figure for it, so Globestamp places its stamp by estimate: Mythic, for fewer than 50,000 visitors a year.
- Stamp finish
- Mythicplaced by estimate
- Area
- 99 km² (38 sq mi)
- Airports
- 1with scheduled flights
Does Christmas Island count as a country?
It depends on the list. Christmas Island is an external territory of Australia, so it is not one of the UN’s 193 members, but Globestamp’s list of 250 countries and territories counts it on its own. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “Christmas Island”.
| List | Counts Christmas Island? |
|---|---|
| UN member states (193) | No |
| Globestamp’s countries and territories (250) | Yes |
| Travelers’ Century Club (330) | Yes, as Christmas Island |
| European Union | No |
| Schengen area | No |
Christmas Island belongs to Australia, but travelers usually count it on its own, because it has its own entry rules, its own flag or its own place on the map. Other places in the same family: Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands and Norfolk Island.
The Christmas Island stamp
Every country in Globestamp has its own stamp, drawn after a real entry stamp. Its finish shows how few travelers get there. Christmas Island’s is Mythic: a living finish taken from the place itself, the finish for places with fewer than 50,000 visitors a year. UN Tourism has no figure for Christmas Island, so its finish is placed by hand from what is known of its visitors. See every stamp on the stamp wall, or the rarest on the least-visited countries.
What counts as a visit to Christmas Island
The common rule among travelers is that you set foot there: an airport layover usually doesn’t count, and a port where you went ashore does. Globestamp counts Christmas Island when one of your photos was taken on its ground, or just off its coast; a photo taken from a plane never counts. With a single airport with scheduled flights (Christmas Island International Airport, XCH), photos only at the airport make a transit stamp, counted only if you count layovers. Read more in how to count the countries you’ve visited.
Events in Christmas Island
Total solar eclipses over Christmas Island that the app knows: 22 July 2028. A photo inside the path of totality that day ticks “Watch a total eclipse”.
Airports
Christmas Island has 1 airport with scheduled flights. Each is a dot on Globestamp’s airports layer, and every flight you log adds to how far you’ve flown (try the flight distance calculator).
Questions people ask
Is Christmas Island a country?
It depends on the list. Christmas Island is an external territory of Australia, so it is not one of the UN’s 193 members, but Globestamp’s list of 250 countries and territories counts it on its own. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “Christmas Island”.
How many tourists visit Christmas Island?
UN Tourism, the usual source, publishes no arrivals figure for Christmas Island. Globestamp places its stamp by estimate, as Mythic: fewer than 50,000 visitors a year.
How rare is a Christmas Island stamp in Globestamp?
It is printed in Mythic, the finish for places with fewer than 50,000 visitors a year. The fewer travelers a place receives, the rarer its finish, from plain Ink to Mythic.
Does Christmas Island count for the Travelers’ Century Club?
Yes. The Travelers’ Century Club counts it as “Christmas Island”, one of its 330 destinations.
Places as rare as Christmas Island
Near Christmas Island
Sources
- Countries, cities and regions: Natural Earth 10m admin-0 (public domain); lists as of October 2026.
- Visitors: UN Tourism via the World Bank, ST.INT.ARVL (International tourism, number of arrivals), CC BY 4.0, data updated 2026-10-08. Each country's latest year before 2020. Countries count visitors differently; use as a rough rank.
- World Heritage Sites, parks, landmarks and the bucket-list places: Wikidata (CC0), as compiled in the app, October 2026.
- Airports: OurAirports (public domain), airports with scheduled service.
- Travelers’ Century Club: the club’s list of 330 destinations, as of January 2022.