Kiribati (2001) | West Bank (2003) | |
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) | - |
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: 44.1% (male 505,880; female 481,369)
15-64 years: 52.4% (male 598,992; female 572,511) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 33,688; female 44,754) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | copra, taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, vegetables; fish | olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products |
Airports | 21 (2000 est.) | 3 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 (2000 est.) |
total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
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: 5,860 sq km
land: 5,640 sq km water: 220 sq km note: includes West Bank, Latrun Salient, and the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea, but excludes Mt. Scopus; East Jerusalem and Jerusalem No Man's Land are also included only as a means of depicting the entire area occupied by Israel in 1967 |
Area - comparative | four times the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than Delaware |
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. | The Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (the DOP), signed in Washington on 13 September 1993, provided for a transitional period not exceeding five years of Palestinian interim self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Under the DOP, Israel agreed to transfer certain powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority, which includes the Palestinian Legislative Council elected in January 1996, as part of the interim self-governing arrangements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A transfer of powers and responsibilities for the Gaza Strip and Jericho took place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4 May 1994 Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area and in additional areas of the West Bank pursuant to the Israel-PLO 28 September 1995 Interim Agreement, the Israel-PLO 15 January 1997 Protocol Concerning Redeployment in Hebron, the Israel-PLO 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum, and the 4 September 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement. The DOP provides that Israel will retain responsibility during the transitional period for external security and for internal security and public order of settlements and Israeli citizens. Direct negotiations to determine the permanent status of Gaza and West Bank had begun in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus, but have been derailed by a second intifadah that broke out in September 2000. The resulting widespread violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel's military response, and instability within the Palestinian Authority continue to undermine progress toward a permanent agreement. |
Birth rate | 31.98 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 34.07 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$33.3 million expenditures: $47.7 million, including capital expenditures of $NA million (1996 est.) |
revenues: $930 million
expenditures: $1.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $15 million note: includes Gaza Strip (2000 est.) |
Capital | Tarawa | - |
Climate | tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds | temperate; temperature and precipitation vary with altitude, warm to hot summers, cool to mild winters |
Coastline | 1,143 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 12 July 1979 | - |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Kiribati conventional short form: Kiribati note: pronounced kir-ih-bahss former: Gilbert Islands |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: West Bank |
Currency | Australian dollar (AUD) | new Israeli shekel (ILS); Jordanian dinar (JOD) |
Death rate | 8.88 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 4.16 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | $10 million (1999 est.) | $108 million (includes Gaza Strip) (1997 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | the US does not have an embassy in Kiribati; the ambassador to the Marshall Islands is accredited to Kiribati | - |
Diplomatic representation in the US | Kiribati does not have an embassy in the US; there is an honorary consulate in Honolulu | - |
Disputes - international | none | West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation |
Economic aid - recipient | $15.5 million (1995), largely from UK and Japan | $800 million (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.) |
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. | Real per capita GDP for the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) declined by about one-third between 1992 and 1996 due to the combined effect of falling aggregate incomes and rapid population growth. The downturn in economic activity was largely the result of Israeli closure policies - the imposition of border closures in response to security incidents in Israel - which disrupted labor and commodity market relationships between Israel and the WBGS. The most serious social effect of this downturn was rising unemployment; unemployment in the WBGS during the 1980s was generally under 5%; by 1995 it had risen to over 20%. Israel's use of comprehensive closures during the next five years decreased and, in 1998, Israel implemented new policies to reduce the impact of closures and other security procedures on the movement of Palestinian goods and labor. These changes fueled an almost three-year-long economic recovery in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; real GDP grew by 5% in 1998 and 6% in 1999. Recovery was upended in the last quarter of 2000 with the outbreak of violence, which triggered tight Israeli closures of Palestinian self-rule areas and severely disrupted trade and labor movements. In 2001, and even more severely in 2002, Israeli military measures in Palestinian Authority areas have resulted in the destruction of much capital plant and administrative structure, widespread business closures, and a sharp drop in GDP. Another major loss has been the decline in earnings of Palestinian workers in Israel. International aid of $2 billion in 2001-02 to the West Bank and Gaza Strip have prevented the complete collapse of the economy. |
Electricity - consumption | 6.5 million kWh (1999) | NA kWh |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | NA kWh |
Electricity - production | 7 million kWh (1999) | NA kWh; note - most electricity imported from Israel; East Jerusalem Electric Company buys and distributes electricity to Palestinians in East Jerusalem and its concession in the West Bank; the Israel Electric Company directly supplies electricity to most Jewish residents and military facilities; some Palestinian municipalities, such as Nablus and Janin, generate their own electricity from small power plants |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Banaba 81 m |
lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 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 | adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage treatment |
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 | Palestinian Arab and other 83%, Jewish 17% |
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) | new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.7378 (2002), 4.2057 (2001), 4.0773 (2000), 4.1397 (1999), 3.8001 (1998), 3.4494 (1997); Jordanian dinars per US dollar - fixed rate of 0.7090 (from 1996) |
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% |
- |
Exports | $6 million (f.o.b., 1998) | $603 million f.o.b., includes Gaza Strip |
Exports - commodities | copra 62%, coconuts, seaweed, fish | olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone |
Exports - partners | Bangladesh, Australia, US, Hong Kong (1999) | Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2000) |
Fiscal year | NA | calendar year (since 1 January 1992) |
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 | - |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $76 million (2000 est.), supplemented by a nearly equal amount from external sources | purchasing power parity - $1.7 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
14% industry: 7% services: 79% (1996 est.) |
agriculture: 9%
industry: 28% services: 63% note: includes Gaza Strip (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $850 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $800 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 1% (2000 est.) | -22% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 1 25 N, 173 00 E | 32 00 N, 35 15 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 | landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers; there are 242 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the West Bank and 29 in East Jerusalem (February 2002 est.) |
Highways | total:
670 km (1996) paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
total: 4,500 km
paved: 2,700 km unpaved: 1,800 km note: Israelis have developed many highways to service Jewish settlements (1997 est.) |
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) | $1.9 billion c.i.f., includes Gaza Strip |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, miscellaneous manufactured goods, fuel | food, consumer goods, construction materials |
Imports - partners | Australia, Fiji, Japan, NZ, China (1999) | Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2000) |
Independence | 12 July 1979 (from UK) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | 0.7% (1992 est.) | NA% |
Industries | fishing, handicrafts | generally small family businesses that produce cement, textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs; the Israelis have established some small-scale, modern industries in the settlements and industrial centers |
Infant mortality rate | 54 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 20.68 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 22.86 deaths/1,000 live births female: 18.37 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2% (1999 est.) | 2.2% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 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) | - |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 8 (1999) |
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 | - |
Labor force | 7,870 economically active, not including subsistence farmers (1985 est.) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | - | services 66%, industry 21%, agriculture 13% (1996) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 404 km
border countries: Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km |
Land use | arable land:
0% permanent crops: 51% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 3% other: 46% (1993 est.) |
arable land: NEGL%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
Languages | English (official), I-Kiribati | Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood) |
Legal system | NA | - |
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 |
- |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
60.16 years male: 57.25 years female: 63.22 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 72.68 years
male: 70.95 years female: 74.51 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
NA total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
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 | Middle East, west of Jordan |
Map references | Oceania | Middle East |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
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 | 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 | $NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | NA% |
National holiday | Independence Day, 12 July (1979) | - |
Nationality | noun:
I-Kiribati (singular and plural) adjective: I-Kiribati |
noun: NA
adjective: NA |
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 | droughts |
Natural resources | phosphate (production discontinued in 1979) | arable land |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 3.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 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 |
- |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | - |
Population | 94,149 (July 2001 est.) | 2,237,194 (July 2002 est.)
note: in addition, there are about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (February 2002 est.) (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 60% (2002 est.) |
Population growth rate | 2.31% (2001 est.) | 3.3% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Banaba, Betio, English Harbor, Kanton | none |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0
note: the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts from an AM station in Ramallah on 675 kHz; numerous local, private stations are reported to be in operation (2000) |
Radios | 17,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km | 0 km |
Religions | Roman Catholic 54%, Protestant (Congregational) 30%, some Seventh-Day Adventist, Baha'i, Latter-day Saints, and Church of God (1996) | Muslim 75% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 17%, Christian and other 8% |
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: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | - |
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: NA
domestic: NA international: NA note: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for communication services in the West Bank |
Telephones - main lines in use | 2,000 (1997) | 95,729 (total for West Bank and Gaza Strip) (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | NA |
Terrain | mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs | mostly rugged dissected upland, some vegetation in west, but barren in east |
Total fertility rate | 4.36 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 4.65 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 2%; underemployment 70% (1992 est.) | 50% (includes Gaza Strip) (2002 est.) |
Waterways | 5 km (small network of canals in Line Islands) | none |