Guernsey (2007) | Kiribati (2001) | |
![]() | ![]() | |
Administrative divisions | none (British crown dependency); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 10 parishes including Castel, Forest, Saint Andrew, Saint Martin, Saint Peter Port, Saint Pierre du Bois, Saint Sampson, Saint Saviour, Torteval, Vale | 3 units; Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands; note - in addition, there are 6 districts (Banaba, Central Gilberts, Line Islands, Northern Gilberts, Southern Gilberts, Tarawa) and 21 island councils - one for each of the inhabited islands (Abaiang, Abemama, Aranuka, Arorae, Banaba, Beru, Butaritari, Kanton, Kiritimati, Kuria, Maiana, Makin, Marakei, Nikunau, Nonouti, Onotoa, Tabiteuea, Tabuaeran, Tamana, Tarawa, Teraina) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 14.8% (male 4,914/female 4,784)
15-64 years: 67.4% (male 21,897/female 22,298) 65 years and over: 17.8% (male 4,955/female 6,725) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years:
40.53% (male 19,322; female 18,833) 15-64 years: 56.27% (male 26,136; female 26,841) 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 1,291; female 1,726) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | tomatoes, greenhouse flowers, sweet peppers, eggplant, fruit; Guernsey cattle | copra, taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, vegetables; fish |
Airports | 2 (2007) | 21 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
total:
4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total:
17 914 to 1,523 m: 12 under 914 m: 5 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 78 sq km
land: 78 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Alderney, Guernsey, Herm, Sark, and some other smaller islands |
total:
717 sq km land: 717 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands |
Area - comparative | about one-half the size of Washington, DC | four times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | Guernsey and the other Channel Islands represent the last remnants of the medieval Dukedom of Normandy, which held sway in both France and England. The islands were the only British soil occupied by German troops in World War II. Guernsey is a British crown dependency, but is not part of the UK. However, the UK Government is constitutionally responsible for its defense and international representation. | The Gilbert Islands were granted self-rule by the UK in 1971 and complete independence in 1979 under the new name of Kiribati. The US relinquished all claims to the sparsely inhabited Phoenix and Line Island groups in a 1979 treaty of friendship with Kiribati. |
Birth rate | 8.65 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 31.98 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $563.6 million
expenditures: $530.9 million (2005) |
revenues:
$33.3 million expenditures: $47.7 million, including capital expenditures of $NA million (1996 est.) |
Capital | name: Saint Peter Port
geographic coordinates: 49 27 N, 2 32 W time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
Tarawa |
Climate | temperate with mild winters and cool summers; about 50% of days are overcast | tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds |
Coastline | 50 km | 1,143 km |
Constitution | unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice | 12 July 1979 |
Country name | conventional long form: Bailiwick of Guernsey
conventional short form: Guernsey |
conventional long form:
Republic of Kiribati conventional short form: Kiribati note: pronounced kir-ih-bahss former: Gilbert Islands |
Currency | - | Australian dollar (AUD) |
Death rate | 10.07 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 8.88 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $NA | $10 million (1999 est.) |
Dependency status | British crown dependency | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (British crown dependency) | the US does not have an embassy in Kiribati; the ambassador to the Marshall Islands is accredited to Kiribati |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (British crown dependency) | Kiribati does not have an embassy in the US; there is an honorary consulate in Honolulu |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA | $15.5 million (1995), largely from UK and Japan |
Economy - overview | Financial services - banking, fund management, insurance - account for about 23% of employment and 32% of total income in this tiny, prosperous Channel Island economy. Tourism, manufacturing, and horticulture, mainly tomatoes and cut flowers, have been declining. Financial services, construction, retail, and the public sector have been growing. Light tax and death duties make Guernsey a popular tax haven. The evolving economic integration of the EU nations is changing the environment under which Guernsey operates. | A remote country of 33 scattered coral atolls, Kiribati has few national resources. Commercially viable phosphate deposits were exhausted at the time of independence from the UK in 1979. Copra and fish now represent the bulk of production and exports. The economy has fluctuated widely in recent years. Economic development is constrained by a shortage of skilled workers, weak infrastructure, and remoteness from international markets. Tourism provides more than one-fifth of GDP. The financial sector is at an early stage of development as is the expansion of private sector initiatives. Foreign financial aid, largely from the UK and Japan, is a critical supplement to GDP, equal to 25%-50% of GDP in recent years. Remittances from workers abroad account for more than $5 million each year. Performance in 2000 fell short of the 2.5% growth in 1999, which benefited from increased copra production and exceptionally large revenues from fishing licenses. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | 6.5 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | NA kWh | 7 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Sark 114 m |
lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Banaba 81 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | heavy pollution in lagoon of south Tarawa atoll due to heavy migration mixed with traditional practices such as lagoon latrines and open-pit dumping; ground water at risk |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | UK and Norman-French descent with small percentages from other European countries | predominantly Micronesian with some Polynesian |
Exchange rates | Guernsey pounds per US dollar - 0.5418 (2006), 0.5493 (2005), 0.5462 (2004), 0.6125 (2003), 0.6672 (2002)
note: the Guernsey pound is at par with the British pound |
Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.7995 (January 2001), 1.7173 (2000), 1.5497 (1999), 1.5888 (1998), 1.3439 (1997), 1.2773 (1996) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Lieutenant Governor Sir Fabian MALBON (since 28 October 2005)
head of government: Chief Minister Michael W. TORODE (since 5 March 2007) cabinet: Policy Council elected by the States of Deliberation elections: the monarch is hereditary; lieutenant governor appointed by the monarch; chief minister is elected by States of Deliberation election results: Laurie MORGAN elected chief minister, percent of vote of the States of Deliberation NA |
chief of state:
President Teburoro TITO (since 1 October 1994); Vice President Tewareka TENTOA (since 12 October 1994); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Teburoro TITO (since 1 October 1994); Vice President Tewareka TENTOA (since 12 October 1994); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from among the members of the House of Assembly, includes the president, vice president, attorney general, and up to eight other ministers elections: the House of Assembly chooses the presidential candidates from among their members and then those candidates compete in a general election; president is elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 27 November 1998 (next to be held by NA November 2002); vice president appointed by the president election results: Teburoro TITO reelected president; percent of vote - Teburoro TITO 52.3%, Dr. Harry TONG 45.8%, Amberoti NIKORA 1.9%, Taberannang TIMEON 0% |
Exports | $NA | $6 million (f.o.b., 1998) |
Exports - commodities | tomatoes, flowers and ferns, sweet peppers, eggplant, other vegetables | copra 62%, coconuts, seaweed, fish |
Exports - partners | UK; note - regarded as internal trade (2006) | Bangladesh, Australia, US, Hong Kong (1999) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | NA |
Flag description | white with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) extending to the edges of the flag and a yellow equal-armed cross of William the Conqueror superimposed on the Saint George cross | the upper half is red with a yellow frigate bird flying over a yellow rising sun, and the lower half is blue with three horizontal wavy white stripes to represent the ocean |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $76 million (2000 est.), supplemented by a nearly equal amount from external sources |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 3%
industry: 10% services: 87% (2000) |
agriculture:
14% industry: 7% services: 79% (1996 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $850 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3% (2005 est.) | 1% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 49 28 N, 2 35 W | 1 25 N, 173 00 E |
Geography - note | large, deepwater harbor at Saint Peter Port | 20 of the 33 islands are inhabited; Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean - the others are Makatea in French Polynesia, and Nauru |
Highways | - | total:
670 km (1996) paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $NA | $44 million (c.i.f., 1999) |
Imports - commodities | coal, gasoline, oil, machinery and equipment | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, miscellaneous manufactured goods, fuel |
Imports - partners | UK; note - regarded as internal trade (2006) | Australia, Fiji, Japan, NZ, China (1999) |
Independence | none (British crown dependency) | 12 July 1979 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 0.7% (1992 est.) |
Industries | tourism, banking | fishing, handicrafts |
Infant mortality rate | total: 4.59 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 5.12 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.03 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
54 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.4% (June 2006) | 2% (1999 est.) |
International organization participation | UPU | ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), ITU, OPCW, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WTrO (applicant) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | NA | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Royal Court | Court of Appeal; High Court; 26 Magistrates' courts; judges at all levels are appointed by the president |
Labor force | 31,470 (March 2006) | 7,870 economically active, not including subsistence farmers (1985 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land: NA%
permanent crops: NA% other: NA% |
arable land:
0% permanent crops: 51% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 3% other: 46% (1993 est.) |
Languages | English, French, Norman-French dialect spoken in country districts | English (official), I-Kiribati |
Legal system | the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply; justice is administered by the Royal Court | NA |
Legislative branch | unicameral States of Deliberation (45 seats; members are elected by popular vote for four years); note - Alderney and Sark have parliaments
elections: last held 21 April 2004 (next to be held in 2008) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - all independents |
unicameral House of Assembly or Maneaba Ni Maungatabu (41 seats; 39 elected by popular vote, one ex officio member, and one nominated to represent Banaba; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 23 September 1998 (next to be held by NA September 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Maneaban Te Mauri Party 14, National Progressive Party 11, independents 14 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 80.53 years
male: 77.53 years female: 83.64 years (2007 est.) |
total population:
60.16 years male: 57.25 years female: 63.22 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition:
NA total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Western Europe, islands in the English Channel, northwest of France | Oceania, group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, straddling the equator, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia; note - on 1 January 1995, Kiribati proclaimed that all of its territory lies in the same time zone as its Gilbert Islands group (GMT +12) even though the Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands under its jurisdiction lie on the other side of the International Date Line |
Map references | Europe | Oceania |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 3 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm |
exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | total:
1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,291 GRT/1,295 DWT ships by type: passenger/cargo 1 (2000 est.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK | Kiribati does not have military forces; defense assistance is provided by Australia and NZ |
Military branches | - | no regular military forces; Police Force (carries out law enforcement functions and paramilitary duties; small police posts are on all islands) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | NA% |
National holiday | Liberation Day, 9 May (1945) | Independence Day, 12 July (1979) |
Nationality | noun: Channel Islander(s)
adjective: Channel Islander |
noun:
I-Kiribati (singular and plural) adjective: I-Kiribati |
Natural hazards | NA | typhoons can occur any time, but usually November to March; occasional tornadoes; low level of some of the islands make them very sensitive to changes in sea level |
Natural resources | cropland | phosphate (production discontinued in 1979) |
Net migration rate | 3.81 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | none; all independents | Maneaban Te Mauri Party [Teburoro TITO]; National Progressive Party [Teatao TEANNAKI]
note: there is no tradition of formally organized political parties in Kiribati; they more closely resemble factions or interest groups because they have no party headquarters, formal platforms, or party structures |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | NA |
Population | 65,573 (July 2007 est.) | 94,149 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA% |
Population growth rate | 0.239% (2007 est.) | 2.31% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Banaba, Betio, English Harbor, Kanton |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 1 (1998) |
Radios | - | 17,000 (1997) |
Railways | - | 0 km |
Religions | Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, Congregational, Methodist | Roman Catholic 54%, Protestant (Congregational) 30%, some Seventh-Day Adventist, Baha'i, Latter-day Saints, and Church of God (1996) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.027 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.982 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.737 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: 1 submarine cable |
general assessment:
NA domestic: NA international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) note: Kiribati is being linked to the Pacific Ocean Cooperative Telecommunications Network, which should improve telephone service |
Telephones - main lines in use | 45,100 (2005) | 2,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 43,800 (2004) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | 1 (1997) |
Terrain | mostly level with low hills in southwest | mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs |
Total fertility rate | 1.4 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 4.36 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 0.9% (March 2006 est.) | 2%; underemployment 70% (1992 est.) |
Waterways | - | 5 km (small network of canals in Line Islands) |