The DXCC entity of Banaba Island was added to the DXCC Countries List in 1989.
The ARRL Letter 1989-12-18 carries the following announcement::
"By unanimous vote (7-0), the ARRL Awards Committee has accepted the recommendations of the DX Advisory Committee to add Conway Reef (3D2) and Banaba (T33) to the ARRL DXCC Countries List Criteria"
<snip Conway paragraph>
"Banaba (T33), part of the Republic of Kiribati, is an island located approximately 260 miles southwest of Tarawa in Western Kiribati (T31). There were a few operations from Banaba, formerly known as Ocean Island, before the T33JS/T33RA activity of May 1989. Those VR1 operations will also be creditable."
Also:
"There are a few DXCC members who have been given credit for Western Kiribati (formerly known as Gilbert Islands, including Tarawa) based on an Ocean Island QSO with a VR1 station before 1979. They may submit this QSL card for the proper Banaba credit (along with a Gilbert Islands or Western Kiribati card for Western Kiribati credit) <snip>.
Location map (credit: Martin W. Lewis, GeoCurrents
Prefix: T33, VR1
Ranking in "Most Wanted" league
The IOTA reference for Banaba Island is OC-018.
Whitelisting
Banaba Island is a whitelisted DXCC entity. The following table lists stations known to have been QRV from Banaba Island and which are thought to be good for DXCC credit.
The callsigns below are the only ones that Club Log will map to Banaba Island . These callsigns have been taken from QSL cards and other sources.
Callsigns that are not listed below, or QSOs outside the exception date range, will be not be mapped to Banaba Island but will be mapped as INVALID.
Please advise any missing valid callsigns to Alan, 5B4AHJ, or via the Help Desk.
| Call | Date/Note (follow callsign links to see exact dates, QSLs and additional notes) |
| VR1G | 1960 - November until 1964 - October |
| VR1N | 1963 - May/June |
| VR1L | 1967 - September until 1970 - September |
| VR1AF | 1976 - April to 1979 - October |
| VR1AG | 1977 - March to 1978 - September |
| T3KA | 1979 - October QSL required |
| T33JS, T33RA | 1989 - May T33RA QSL required |
| T33C, T33WV, T33X | 1990 - November QSLs required |
| T33R T33T | 1990 - November |
| T33CS, T33KK | 1994 - March/April |
| T33JH | 1997 - July |
| T33VU | 1998 - December until 1999 - February |
| T33RD | 1999 - March/April |
| T33CW, T33Y | 1999 - October/November |
| T33C, T33CA, T33CF, T33LP, T33I, T33IC, T33MR, T33OA, T33ND, T33NN T33PA, T33S, T33TW, T33WP, T33WU | 2004 - March/April T33CA, T33CF, T33IC, T33LP, T33MR, T33ND, T33NN, T33OA, T33S QSLs required |
| T33ZZ | 2008 - October |
| T33A, T33FL, T33KV, T33PT, T33X | 2013 - November T33X QSL required, please. |
| T33T, T33KC | 2022 - November |
| T33KK | 2022 - November on going (resident) |
| Unconfirmed operations | |
| T33HA | 2011 - October. Confirmation required that this operation took place. |
| Operations that did not happen or do not count | |
| T33YL | Licence issued but call never activated |
| T33BA, T33BB | 2-23 - February No ship avaikable |
Acknowledgements and references
ARRL Letter 1989-12-18
Hamgallery Banaba Island (Ocean Is.), Oceania
Les Nouvelles DX VR1 - Banaba
NCDXF Newsletter Winter 1990
Wikipedia Banaba