Kiribati (2001) | Macau (2004) | |
Administrative divisions | 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) | none (special administrative region of China) |
Age structure | 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.) |
0-14 years: 18% (male 41,460; female 38,595)
15-64 years: 74.2% (male 157,629; female 172,810) 65 years and over: 7.8% (male 14,380; female 20,412) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | copra, taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, vegetables; fish | vegetables, livestock |
Airports | 21 (2000 est.) | 1 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 (2000 est.) |
total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
17 914 to 1,523 m: 12 under 914 m: 5 (2000 est.) |
- |
Area | total:
717 sq km land: 717 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands |
total: 25.4 sq km
land: 25.4 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | four times the size of Washington, DC | about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | 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. | Colonized by the Portuguese in the 16th century, Macau was the first European settlement in the Far East. Pursuant to an agreement signed by China and Portugal on 13 April 1987, Macau became the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China on 20 December 1999. China has promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist economic system will not be practiced in Macau, and that Macau will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs for the next 50 years. |
Birth rate | 31.98 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 8.04 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$33.3 million expenditures: $47.7 million, including capital expenditures of $NA million (1996 est.) |
revenues: $1.9 billion
expenditures: $1.68 billion, including capital expenditures of $194 million (2002) |
Capital | Tarawa | - |
Climate | tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds | subtropical; marine with cool winters, warm summers |
Coastline | 1,143 km | 41 km |
Constitution | 12 July 1979 | Basic Law, approved in March 1993 by China's National People's Congress, is Macau's "mini-constitution" |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Kiribati conventional short form: Kiribati note: pronounced kir-ih-bahss former: Gilbert Islands |
conventional long form: Macau Special Administrative Region
conventional short form: Macau local long form: Aomen Tebie Xingzhengqu (Chinese); Regiao Administrativa Especial de Macau (Portuguese) local short form: Aomen (Chinese); Macau (Portuguese) |
Currency | Australian dollar (AUD) | pataca (MOP) |
Death rate | 8.88 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 4.23 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $10 million (1999 est.) | $121 million (2001 est.) |
Dependency status | - | special administrative region of China |
Diplomatic representation from the US | the US does not have an embassy in Kiribati; the ambassador to the Marshall Islands is accredited to Kiribati | the US has no offices in Macau; US interests are monitored by the US Consulate General in Hong Kong |
Diplomatic representation in the US | Kiribati does not have an embassy in the US; there is an honorary consulate in Honolulu | none (special administrative region of China) |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $15.5 million (1995), largely from UK and Japan | NA (1997) |
Economy - overview | 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. | Macau's well-to-do economy has remained one of the most open in the world since its reversion to China in 1999. The territory's net exports of goods and services account for roughly 41% of GDP with tourism and apparel exports as the mainstays. Although the territory was hit hard by the 1998 Asian financial crisis and the global downturn in 2001, its economy grew 9.5% in 2002. A rapid rise in the number of mainland visitors because of China's easing of restrictions on travel drove the recovery. The budget also returned to surplus in 2002 because of the surge in visitors from China and a hike in taxes on gambling profits, which generated about 70% of government revenue. The liberalization of Macao's gambling monopoly contributes to GDP growth, as the three companies awarded gambling licenses have pledged to invest $2.2 billion in the territory. Much of Macau's textile industry may move to the mainland as the Multi-Fiber Agreement is phased out. The territory may have to rely more on gambling and trade-related services to generate growth. The government estimated GDP growth at 4% in 2003 with the drop in large measure due to concerns over the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), but private sector analysts think the figure may have been higher because of the continuing boom in tourism. |
Electricity - consumption | 6.5 million kWh (1999) | 1.688 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 1 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 193 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 7 million kWh (1999) | 1.611 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Banaba 81 m |
lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: Coloane Alto 172.4 m |
Environment - current issues | 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 | NA |
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 | predominantly Micronesian with some Polynesian | Chinese 95%, Macanese (mixed Portuguese and Asian ancestry), Portuguese, other |
Exchange rates | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.7995 (January 2001), 1.7173 (2000), 1.5497 (1999), 1.5888 (1998), 1.3439 (1997), 1.2773 (1996) | patacas per US dollar - 8.0212 (2003), 8.0334 (2002), 8.0335 (2001), 8.0259 (2000), 7.9919 (1999) |
Executive branch | 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% |
chief of state: President of China HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003)
head of government: Chief Executive Edmund HO Hau-wah (since 20 December 1999) cabinet: Executive Council consists of all one government secretary, four legislators, four businessmen, and one pro-Beijing unionist elections: chief executive chosen by a 300-member selection committee for up to two five-year terms election results: Edmund HO Hau-wah reelected on 29 August 2004; received 296 votes in Election Committee out of 300 possible; 3 members submitted blank ballots; 1 member was absent |
Exports | $6 million (f.o.b., 1998) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | copra 62%, coconuts, seaweed, fish | clothing, textiles, footwear, cement, machines, and parts |
Exports - partners | Bangladesh, Australia, US, Hong Kong (1999) | US 49.4%, China 14.1%, Germany 8.1%, Hong Kong 6.7%, UK 4.5% (2003) |
Fiscal year | NA | calendar year |
Flag description | 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 | light green with a lotus flower above a stylized bridge and water in white, beneath an arc of five gold, five-pointed stars: one large in center of arc and four smaller |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $76 million (2000 est.), supplemented by a nearly equal amount from external sources | purchasing power parity - $9.1 billion (2003 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
14% industry: 7% services: 79% (1996 est.) |
agriculture: 1%
industry: 12% services: 87% (2002 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $850 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $19,400 (2003 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 1% (2000 est.) | 4% (2003 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 1 25 N, 173 00 E | 22 10 N, 113 33 E |
Geography - note | 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 | essentially urban; one causeway and two bridges connect the two islands of Coloane and Taipa to the peninsula on mainland |
Highways | total:
670 km (1996) paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
total: 271 km
paved: 271 km unpaved: 0 km (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Imports | $44 million (c.i.f., 1999) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, miscellaneous manufactured goods, fuel | clothing, textiles, yarn, foodstuffs, fuel, automobiles, capital goods |
Imports - partners | Australia, Fiji, Japan, NZ, China (1999) | China 43%, Hong Kong 12.7%, Japan 8.7%, Taiwan 5.6% (2003) |
Independence | 12 July 1979 (from UK) | none (special administrative region of China) |
Industrial production growth rate | 0.7% (1992 est.) | NA |
Industries | fishing, handicrafts | tourism, gambling, clothing, textiles, electronics, footwear, toys |
Infant mortality rate | 54 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 4.39 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 4.59 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2% (1999 est.) | -2.6% (2003 est.) |
International organization participation | 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) | IMF, IMO (associate), Interpol (sub-bureau), ISO (correspondent), UNESCO (associate), UPU, WCO, WMO, WToO (associate), WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeal; High Court; 26 Magistrates' courts; judges at all levels are appointed by the president | The Court of Final Appeal in the Macau Special Administrative Region |
Labor force | 7,870 economically active, not including subsistence farmers (1985 est.) | 214,000 (2002) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | manufacturing 20%, construction 7%, transport and communications 6%, wholesale and retail trade 15%, restaurants and hotels 12%, gambling 7%, public sector 8%, other services and agriculture 25% (2002 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 0.34 km
regional border: China 0.34 km |
Land use | arable land:
0% permanent crops: 51% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 3% other: 46% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% note: "green areas" represent 22.4% (2001) |
Languages | English (official), I-Kiribati | Portuguese, Chinese (Cantonese) |
Legal system | NA | based on Portuguese civil law system |
Legislative branch | 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 |
unicameral Legislative Council or LEGCO (27 seats; 10 elected by popular vote, 10 by indirect vote, and sevem appointed by the chief executive; members serve four-year terms); number of legislators will increase to 29 from September 2005
elections: last held 23 September 2001 (next to be September 2005) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats by political bloc - Entertainment Industry 3, pro-democracy 2, pro-Beijing Labor Union 2, pro-Beijing Neighborhood Association 2, pro-business 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
60.16 years male: 57.25 years female: 63.22 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 82.03 years
male: 79.2 years female: 84.99 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
NA total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 94.5% male: 97.2% female: 92% (2003 est.) |
Location | 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 | Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China |
Map references | Oceania | Southeast Asia |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
not specified |
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.) |
none |
Military - note | 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) | responsibility for defense reverted to China on 20 December 1999; there are local police forces |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $NA | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | - |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 125,060 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 68,913 (2004 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 12 July (1979) | National Day (Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China), 1 October (1949); note - 20 December 1999 is celebrated as Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day |
Nationality | noun:
I-Kiribati (singular and plural) adjective: I-Kiribati |
noun: Chinese
adjective: Chinese |
Natural hazards | 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 | typhoons |
Natural resources | phosphate (production discontinued in 1979) | NEGL |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 4.86 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | 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 |
Some civic associations operate as de facto political parties: Electoral Union; Pro-Macao and Flower of Friendship and Development of Macao; Associacao para a Defesa dos Interesses de Macao; Centro Democratico de Macao; Grupo Independente de Macao; Macau Economic Promotion Association; Progress Promotion Union; Development Union |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | Catholic Church [LAI Hung-sing, bishop]; Macau Society of Tourism and Entertainment or STDM [Stanley HO, managing director]; Union for Democracy Development [Antonio NG Kuok-cheong, leader] |
Population | 94,149 (July 2001 est.) | 445,286 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA |
Population growth rate | 2.31% (2001 est.) | 0.87% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Banaba, Betio, English Harbor, Kanton | Macau |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 0, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | 17,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km | - |
Religions | Roman Catholic 54%, Protestant (Congregational) 30%, some Seventh-Day Adventist, Baha'i, Latter-day Saints, and Church of God (1996) | Buddhist 50%, Roman Catholic 15%, none and other 35% (1997 est.) |
Sex ratio | 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.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | direct election 18 years of age, universal for permanent residents living in Macau for the past seven years; indirect election limited to organizations registered as "corporate voters" (257 are currently registered) and a 300-member Election Committee drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, and central government bodies |
Telephone system | 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 |
general assessment: fairly modern communication facilities maintained for domestic and international services
domestic: NA international: country code - 853; HF radiotelephone communication facility; access to international communications carriers provided via Hong Kong and China; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 2,000 (1997) | 174,600 (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | 364,000 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | 1 (2003) |
Terrain | mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs | generally flat |
Total fertility rate | 4.36 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 0.93 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 2%; underemployment 70% (1992 est.) | 6.3% (2003) |
Waterways | 5 km (small network of canals in Line Islands) | - |