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Kiribati
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{{Infobox_Country
|native_name = Republic of Kiribati
|common_name = Kiribati
|image_flag = Flag of Kiribati.svg
|image_coat =Kiribaticoa.gif
|image_map =LocationKiribati.png
|national_motto = Te Mauri, Te Raoi ao Te Tabomoa
(
English language English: Health, Peace, and Prosperity)
|national_anthem =
Teirake Kaini Kiribati
|official_languages =
English language English and
Kiribati language Kiribati
|capital =
South Tarawa
|latd= |latm= |latNS= |longd= |longm= |longEW=
|largest_city =
South Tarawa
|government_type = Republic
|leader_titles =
President of Kiribati President
|leader_names =
Anote Tong
|area_rank = 170th
|area_magnitude = ! E9
|area=811
|areami²=313
|percent_water = 0
|population_estimate = 103,092
|population_estimate_rank = 197th
|population_estimate_year = July 2005
|population_census = 91,985
|population_census_year = 2001
|population_density =127.1
|population_densitymi² = 329
|population_density_rank =bbw
|GDP_PPP = $79 million
1
|GDP_PPP_rank =223rd
|GDP_PPP_year= 2001
|GDP_PPP_per_capita = $800
(2001 est.)
|GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 222nd
|sovereignty_type = Independence
|established_events = from
United Kingdom UK
|established_dates =
12 July 1979
|HDI = n/a
|HDI_rank = n/a
|HDI_year = 2003
|HDI_category =
unranked
|currency =
Australian dollar
|currency_code = AUD
|country_code =
|time_zone =
|utc_offset = +12, +13, +14
|time_zone_DST =
|utc_offset_DST =
|cctld =
.ki
|calling_code = 686
|footnotes = 1.)
Supplemented by a nearly equal amount from external sources.
}}
The '''Republic of Kiribati''' {{IPA|['kiri:bæs]}} is an
island nation located in the central tropical
Pacific Ocean. The country's 33
atolls are scattered over 1,351,000
square miles (3,500,000 km²) near the
equator. Its name is
International Phonetic Alphabet pronounced {{IPA|/kiribas/}} and is a
Gilbertese language Kiribati language rendering of "Gilberts", the
English language English name for the main group of islands: the former Gilbert Islands.
History
{{Main|History of Kiribati}}
Kiribati was inhabited by a single Micronesian
ethnic group that spoke the same
Oceanic languages Oceanic language for 2,000 years before coming into contact with Europeans. The islands were named the
Gilbert Islands in
1820 by a Russian admiral,
Adam Johann von Krusenstern Adam von Krusenstern, and French captain
Louis Isidore Duperrey Louis Duperrey, after a British captain, Thomas Gilbert, who crossed the archipelago in
1788 ('Kiribati' is the islanders' pronunciation of plural 'Gilberts').
In
1892, the Gilbert Islands became a
United Kingdom British protectorate together with the nearby
Ellice Islands. They became a colony in
1916 and finally became autonomous in
1971. In 1943, the
Battle of Tarawa was fought at Kiribati's capital Bairiki on
Tarawa atoll.
In
1978, the Ellice Islands became the independent nation of
Tuvalu, and Kiribati's independence followed on
July 12,
1979. With independence, the
United States relinquished all claims to the sparsely inhabited
Phoenix Islands and all but three of the
Line Islands, which became part of Kiribati territory.
Politics
{{Main|Politics of Kiribati}}
The Parliament of Kiribati, called the
House of Assembly of Kiribati ''Maneaba ni Maungatabu'', is elected every four years, and consists of 40 elected representatives, together with the Attorney-General and a representative of the
Banaba Banaban community from
Rabi island in
Fiji. The meeting houses found in every local community are also called ''maneaba''. The President is both head of state and head of government, and is called ''te Beretitenti'' (pronounced ''te be-re-stense'').
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).
Districts
{{Main|Districts of Kiribati}}
There are no more districts, but 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).
Kiribati was divided into 6 districts until independence:
*
Banaba Island Banaba
*
Central Gilberts
*
Line Islands
*
Northern Gilberts
*
Southern Gilberts
*
Tarawa
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, while the Phoenix Islands are uninhabited except for
Kanton Island Kanton and Orona (80 people) 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.
Geography
Image:Kr-map.png thumb|300px|Map of Kiribati
{{Main|Geography 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 Island 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.
Three additional islands in the Line Islands are
United States possessions.
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. ([http://www.trussel.com/kir/dateline.htm])
Two uninhabited Kiribati small islets, Tebua Tarawa and Abanuea, disappeared underwater in 1999, according to the South Pacific Regional Environment Program, and the islet of Tepuka Savilivili (
Tuvalu) (not a Gilbertese name!) no longer has any coconut trees due to salination.[http://news.neoblack.com/news_item.asp?newsid=1066] The
United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that sea levels will rise by about half a meter (20
inch in) by 2100 due to
global warming, with further rise inevitable. It is thus only a matter of time before the arable land becomes subject to increased
soil salination and the nation is largely submerged. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/28/AR2006012801021_2.html]
Economy
{{Main|Economy of Kiribati}}
Image:KiribatiIslands.jpg thumb|310px|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
Gross domestic product GDP.
Foreign financial aid, largely from the
United Kingdom and
Japan, is a critical supplement to GDP, equal to 25%-50% of GDP in recent years.
Demographics
{{Main|Demographics of Kiribati}}
The name of the people is Gilbertese (or ''I-Kiribati'', in Gilbertese).
While
English language English is the constitution's and law's language, ''
Kiribati language Kiribati, the native
Micronesian language, is widely spoken.
Note that in Gilbertese there is no letter 's', the sound is represented by 'ti'. That is why
Kiritimati Island is known in English as Christmas Island (not to be confused with the
Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, which is administered by Australia).
Christianity is the major religion in the country, although mixed with many practices of the indigenous beliefs.
Culture
{{Main|Culture of Kiribati}}
There is a great importance of the songs (''te anene'') and above all of the dances (''te mwaie'').
*
Music of Kiribati
*
Dance of Kiribati: see
Robert Louis Stevenson's ''In the South Seas'' and the
Montana New Zealand Book Awards winner ''Akekeia!'' by Tony & Joan Whincup, Wellington, 2001.
Miscellaneous topics
*
Communications in Kiribati
*
Foreign relations of Kiribati
*
Military of Kiribati
*
Transportation in Kiribati
External links
-
http://www.wysiwyg.co.nz/kiribati/
-
Interactive maps of Kiribati
-
myMicronesia/Kiribati section
-
http://www.kiribati-tuvalu-islandhopping.co.uk an English teacher's diaries of the Kiribati and Tuvalu
{{Pacific_Islands}}
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Category:Pacific Ocean atolls
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