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Kiribati

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geography of Oceania
(Australasia)

   Republic of Kiribati

   Flag of Kiribati Coat of arms of Kiribati
   Flag             Coat of arms
   Motto: Te Mauri, Te Raoi ao Te Tabomoa
   (English: Health, Peace and Prosperity)
   Anthem: Teirake Kaini Kiribati
   Location of Kiribati
   Capital
   (and largest city) South Tarawa
   1°28′N 173°2′E
   Official languages English
   Government Republic
    - President Anote Tong
   Independence
    - from UK 12 July 1979
   Area
    - Total 726 km² ( 186th)
   280 sq mi
    - Water (%) 0
   Population
    - July 2005 estimate 99,350 ( 197th)
    - 2000 census 84,494
    - Density 137/km² ( 73rd)
   355/sq mi
   GDP ( PPP) 2005 estimate
    - Total $221 million^1 ( 179th)
    - Per capita $2,358 ( 136th)
   HDI  (2006) n/a (unranked) ( n/a)
   Currency Australian dollar ( AUD)
   Time zone ( UTC+12, +13, +14)
   Internet TLD .ki
   Calling code +686
   ^1 Supplemented by a nearly equal amount from external sources.

   Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation
   located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. The country's 33 atolls
   are scattered over 1,351 square miles (3,500 km²) near the equator. Its
   name is pronounced ['kiribas] and is a Kiribati language rendering of
   "Gilberts", the English name for the main group of islands: the former
   Gilbert Islands. In Gilbertese there is no letter 's', the sound being
   represented by 'ti'. That is why the Pacific Island known as Christmas
   Island is known in the language of Kiribati as Kiritimati Island. This
   island should not be confused with the Christmas Island in the Indian
   Ocean, which is administered by Australia.

History

   Kiribati was inhabited by a single Micronesian ethnic group that spoke
   the same Oceanic language for 2,000 years before coming into contact
   with Europeans. The islands were first sighted by British and American
   ships in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The islands were named
   the Gilbert Islands in 1820 by a Russian admiral, Adam von Krusenstern,
   and French captain Louis Duperrey, after a British captain, Thomas
   Gilbert, who crossed the archipelago in 1788 ('Kiribati' is the
   islanders' pronunciation of plural 'Gilberts').

   The first British settlers arrived in 1837. In 1892, the Gilbert
   Islands became a British protectorate together with the nearby Ellice
   Islands. The Gilbert and Ellice Islands became a Crown colony in 1916.
   Kiritimati (Christmas Island) became a part of the colony in 1919 and
   the Phoenix Islands were added in 1937.

   Tarawa Atoll and others of the Gilbert group were occupied by Japan
   during World War II. Tarawa was the site of one of the bloodiest
   battles in U.S. Marine Corps history when Marines landed in Nov. 1943,
   the Battle of Tarawa was fought at Kiribati's former capital Betio on
   Tarawa Atoll.

   The Gilbert Islands and Ellice Islands gained self-rule in 1971, and
   were separated in 1975 and granted internal self-government by Britain.
   In 1978, the Ellice Islands became the independent nation of Tuvalu,
   and Kiribati's independence followed on July 12, 1979. In a treaty
   signed shortly after independence and ratified in 1983, the United
   States relinquished all claims (previously asserted under the Guano
   Act) to the sparsely inhabited Phoenix Islands and those of the Line
   Islands that are part of Kiribati territory.

   Overcrowding has been a problem, and in 1988 it was announced that
   4,700 residents of the main island group would be resettled onto less
   populated islands. In 1994, Teburoro Tito was elected president.
   Kiribati's 1995 act of moving the international date line far to the
   east to encompass Kiribati's Line Islands group, so that it would no
   longer be divided by the date line, courted controversy. The move,
   which fulfilled one of President Tito's campaign promises, was intended
   to enable Kiribati to become the first country to see the dawn on
   January 1, 2000, and welcome the date popularly, but incorrectly, taken
   to be the start of the third millennium AD — an event of significance
   for tourism. Tito was reelected in 1998. In 1999, Kiribati gained UN
   membership.

   In 2002, Kiribati passed a controversial law enabling the government to
   shut down newspapers. The legislation followed the launching of
   Kiribati's first successful nongovernment-run newspaper. President Tito
   was reelected in 2003, but in March 2003, he was removed from office by
   a no-confidence vote, and replaced by a Council of State. Anote Tong of
   the opposition party, Boutokaan Te Koaua, was elected to succeed Tito
   in July 2003.

   Many of the islands of Kiribati especially in the remote Line Islands,
   were formerly used by the United States and Great Britain for atomic
   bomb testing. According to Kiribati: A People's History, Kiribati was
   the testing sites for many of the new H-Bombs in the 1960's.

Politics

   The politics of Kiribati takes place in a framework of a presidential
   representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Kiribati
   is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system.
   Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is
   vested in both the government and the House of Assembly. The Judiciary
   is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Administrative divisions

   Kiribati was formally divided into districts until its independence.
   The country is now divided into three island groups which have no
   administrative function, including a group that unites the Line and the
   Phoenix islands (ministry at London, Christmas). Each inhabited island
   has its own council (3 councils on Tarawa: Betio, South-Tarawa,
   North-Tarawa; 2 councils on Tabiteuea). The original districts used to
   be:
     * Banaba
     * Central Gilberts
     * Line Islands
     * Northern Gilberts
     * Southern Gilberts
     * Tarawa Atoll

   The island groups include:
     * Gilbert Islands
     * Phoenix Islands
     * Line Islands

   Four of the former districts (including Tarawa) lie in the Gilbert
   Islands, where most of the country's population lives. Only three of
   the Line Islands are inhabited. The Phoenix Islands are uninhabited
   except for Kanton, and have no representation. Banaba itself is
   sparsely inhabited now. There is also a non-elected representative of
   the Banabans on Rabi Island in the nation of Fiji. Each of the 21
   inhabited islands has a local council that takes care of the daily
   affairs. Tarawa Atoll has three councils: Betio Town Council, Te
   Inainano Urban Council (for the rest of South Tarawa) and Eutan Tarawa
   Council (for North Tarawa).

Geography

   Map of Kiribati
   Enlarge
   Map of Kiribati

   Kiribati consists of about 32 atolls and one island (Banaba), with at
   least three in each hemisphere. The groups of islands are:
     * Banaba: an isolated island between Nauru and the Gilbert Islands.
     * Gilbert Islands: 16 atolls located some 930 miles (1,500 km) north
       of Fiji
     * Phoenix Islands: 8 atolls and coral islands located some 1,100
       miles (1,800 km) southeast of the Gilberts
     * Line Islands: 8 atolls and one reef, located about 2,050 miles
       (3,300 km) east of the Gilberts.

   Banaba (or Ocean Island) is a raised-coral island that was once a rich
   source of phosphates, but it was mostly mined out before independence.
   The rest of the land in Kiribati consists of the sand and reef rock
   islets of atolls or coral islands that rise but a few meters (at most
   6.5 feet) above sea level. The soil is thin and calcareous, making
   agriculture very difficult. Kiritimati (Christmas Island) in the Line
   Islands is the world's largest atoll. Based on a 1995 realignment of
   the International Date Line, Kiribati is now the easternmost country in
   the world, and was the first country to enter into the year 2000 at
   Caroline Island, which, not coincidentally, has been renamed Millennium
   Island.

   According to the South Pacific Regional Environment Program, two small
   uninhabited Kiribati islets, Tebua Tarawa and Abanuea, disappeared
   underwater in 1999. The islet of Tepuka Savilivili (Tuvalu; not a
   Gilbertese name) no longer has any coconut trees due to salination. The
   United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that
   sea levels will rise by about half a meter (20  in) by 2100 due to
   global warming and a further rise would be inevitable. It is thus
   likely that within a century the nation's arable land will become
   subject to increased soil salination and will be largely submerged.

Economy

   Some of the Kiribati islands
   Enlarge
   Some of the Kiribati islands

   Kiribati has few natural resources. Commercially viable phosphate
   deposits were exhausted at the time of independence. Copra and fish now
   represent the bulk of production and exports. Tourism provides more
   than one-fifth of GDP.

   Foreign financial aid, largely from the United Kingdom and Japan, is a
   critical supplement, equal in recent years to 25% to 50% of GDP.
   Agriculture accounts for 12.4% of GDP and 71% of labour; industry 0.9%
   of GDP and 1.9% of labour; trade 18.5% of GDP and 4.1% of labour;
   commercial trade 5.7% of GDP and 1.4% of labour; and service industries
   5.7% of GDP and 1.4% of labour. The main export and import countries
   are Australia, USA, France, Japan, Hong Kong and Germany.

Demographics

   The name of the people is Gilbertese (or I-Kiribati in their language).
   While English is the language of the Constitution and the law, the
   native Micronesian language, Te taetae ni kiribati, is widely spoken.

   Kiribati is one of the clearest examples of overpopulation, since there
   is simply not sufficient water supply, arable land, solid waste
   disposal capacity or sanitation facilities capability on a number of
   the islands.

   Christianity is the major religion in the country, although mixed with
   many practices of the indigenous beliefs.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiribati"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
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