Kiribati (2006) | British Indian Ocean Territory (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: 38.6% (male 20,608/female 20,060)
15-64 years: 58.1% (male 30,216/female 31,004) 65 years and over: 3.4% (male 1,517/female 2,027) (2006 est.) |
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Agriculture - products | copra, taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, vegetables; fish | - |
Airports | 19 (2006) | 1 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 (2006) |
total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 16
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 4 (2006) |
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Area | total: 811 sq km
land: 811 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands |
total: 60 sq km
land: 60 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago |
Area - comparative | four times the size of Washington, DC | about 0.3 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. | Established as a territory of the UK in 1965, a number of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) islands were transferred to the Seychelles when it attained independence in 1976. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago. The largest and most southerly of the islands, Diego Garcia, contains a joint UK-US naval support facility. All of the remaining islands are uninhabited. Former agricultural workers, earlier residents in the islands, were relocated primarily to Mauritius but also to the Seychelles, between 1967 and 1973. In 2000, a British High Court ruling invalidated the local immigration order that had excluded them from the archipelago, but upheld the special military status of Diego Garcia. |
Birth rate | 30.65 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) | - |
Budget | revenues: $55.52 million
expenditures: $59.71 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (FY05) |
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Capital | name: Tarawa
geographic coordinates: 1 25 N, 173 00 E time difference: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
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Climate | tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds | tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds |
Coastline | 1,143 km | 698 km |
Constitution | 12 July 1979 | - |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Kiribati
conventional short form: Kiribati local long form: Republic of Kiribati local short form: Kiribati note: pronounced keer-ree-bahss former: Gilbert Islands |
conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory
conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT |
Death rate | 8.26 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) | - |
Debt - external | $10 million (1999 est.) | - |
Dependency status | - | overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London |
Diplomatic representation from the US | the US does not have an embassy in Kiribati; the ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Kiribati | none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | Kiribati does not have an embassy in the US; there is an honorary consulate in Honolulu | none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Disputes - international | none | Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago and its former inhabitants, who reside chiefly in Mauritius, but in 2001 were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation since eviction in 1965; repatriation is complicated by the US military lease of Diego Garcia, the largest island in the chain |
Economic aid - recipient | $16.7 million largely from UK and Japan (2004) | - |
Economy - overview | A remote country of 33 scattered coral atolls, Kiribati has few natural 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 from UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and China equals about 20% of GDP. Remittances from seamen on merchant ships abroad account for more than $5 million each year. Kiribati receives around $15 million annually for the government budget from an Australian trust fund. | All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where joint UK-US defense facilities are located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installations are done by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. When the Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing. |
Electricity - consumption | 11.16 million kWh (2003) | NA kWh |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2003) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2003) | - |
Electricity - production | 12 million kWh (2003) | NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Banaba 81 m |
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 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, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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Ethnic groups | Micronesian 98.8%, other 1.2% (2000 census) | - |
Exchange rates | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001) | - |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Anote TONG (since 10 July 2003); Vice President Teima ONORIO; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Anote TONG (since 10 July 2003); Vice President Teima ONORIO cabinet: 12-member cabinet appointed by the president from among the members of the House of Parliament elections: the House of Parliament chooses the presidential candidates from among its members and then those candidates compete in a general election; president is elected by popular vote for a four-year term (eligible for two more terms); election last held 4 July 2003 (next to be held not later than July 2007); vice president appointed by the president election results: Anote TONG 47.4%, Harry TONG 43.5%, Banuera BERINA 9.1% |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
head of government: Commissioner Alan HUCKLE (since 2001); Administrator Louise SAVILL (since NA); note - both reside in the UK cabinet: NA elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; commissioner and administrator appointed by the monarch |
Exports | NA bbl/day | - |
Exports - commodities | copra 62%, coconuts, seaweed, fish | - |
Exports - partners | US 22.8%, Belgium 21.5%, Japan 14.3%, Samoa 7.8%, Australia 7.5%, Malaysia 6.7%, Taiwan 5.6%, Denmark 4.6% (2005) | - |
Fiscal year | NA | - |
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 | white with six blue wavy horizontal stripes; the flag of the UK is in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the striped section bears a palm tree and yellow crown centered on the outer half of the flag |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 8.9%
industry: 24.2% services: 66.8% (1998 est.) |
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GDP - real growth rate | 0.3% (2005) | - |
Geographic coordinates | 1 25 N, 173 00 E | 6 00 S, 71 30 E |
Geography - note | 21 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 | archipelago of 2,300 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility |
Highways | - | total: NA km
paved: short section of paved road between port and airfield on Diego Garcia unpaved: NA km |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
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Imports | NA bbl/day | - |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, miscellaneous manufactured goods, fuel | - |
Imports - partners | Australia 33%, Fiji 27.1%, Japan 18.1%, NZ 6.9% (2005) | - |
Independence | 12 July 1979 (from UK) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | 0.7% (1991 est.) | - |
Industries | fishing, handicrafts | - |
Infant mortality rate | total: 47.27 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 52.34 deaths/1,000 live births female: 41.95 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 0.5% (2005 est.) | - |
International organization participation | ACP, AsDB, C, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO | - |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | NA | 0 sq km (1998 est.) |
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 (2001 est.) | - |
Labor force - by occupation | 2.70213%, 32%, 65.3% | - |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land: 2.74%
permanent crops: 47.95% other: 49.31% (2005) |
arable land: NEGL
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
Languages | I-Kiribati, English (official) | - |
Legal system | NA | the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply |
Legislative branch | unicameral House of Parliament or Maneaba Ni Maungatabu (42 seats; 39 elected by popular vote, 1 ex officio member - the attorney general, 1 appointed to represent Banaba, and 1 other; members serve four-year terms)
elections: legislative elections were held in two rounds - the first round on 9 May 2003 and the second round on 14 May 2003 (next to be held by November 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - BTK 17, MTM 16, independents 7, other 2 (includes attorney general) |
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Life expectancy at birth | total population: 62.08 years
male: 59.06 years female: 65.24 years (2006 est.) |
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Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA male: NA female: NA |
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Location | Oceania, group of 33 coral atolls in the Pacific Ocean, straddling the Equator; the capital Tarawa is 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 | archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of India, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia |
Map references | Oceania | Political Map of the World |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 3 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 2 ships (1000 GRT or over) 2,749 GRT/3,911 DWT
by type: cargo 1, passenger/cargo 1 foreign-owned: 1 (UAE 1) (2006) |
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Military - note | Kiribati does not have military forces; defense assistance is provided by Australia and NZ | defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016 |
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 | Independence Day, 12 July (1979) | - |
Nationality | noun: I-Kiribati (singular and plural)
adjective: I-Kiribati |
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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 | NA |
Natural resources | phosphate (production discontinued in 1979) | coconuts, fish, sugarcane |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Boutokaan Te Koaua Party or BTK [Taberannang TIMEON]; Maneaban Te Mauri Party or MTM [Teburoro TITO]; Maurin Kiribati Pati or MKP; National Progressive Party or NPP [Dr. Harry TONG]
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 |
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Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | - |
Population | 105,432 (July 2006 est.) | no indigenous inhabitants
note: approximately 1,200 former agricultural workers resident in the Chagos Archipelago, often referred to as Chagossians or Ilois, were relocated to Mauritius and the Seychelles in the 1960's and 1970's, in November 2000 they were granted the right of return by a British High Court ruling, though no timetable has been set; in 2001, there were approximately 1,500 UK and US military personnel and 2,000 civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | - |
Population growth rate | 2.24% (2006 est.) | - |
Ports and harbors | - | Diego Garcia |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1
note: the shortwave station may be inactive (2002) |
AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 52%, Protestant (Congregational) 40%, some Seventh-Day Adventist, Muslim, Baha'i, Latter-day Saints, Church of God (1999) | - |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
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Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | - |
Telephone system | general assessment: generally good quality national and international service
domestic: wire line service available on Tarawa and Kiritimati (Christmas Island); connections to outer islands by HF/VHF radiotelephone; wireless service available in Tarawa since 1999 international: country code - 686; Kiribati is being linked to the Pacific Ocean Cooperative Telecommunications Network, which should improve telephone service; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) |
general assessment: separate facilities for military and public needs are available
domestic: all commercial telephone services are available, including connection to the Internet international: international telephone service is carried by satellite (2000) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 4,500 (2002) | NA |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 600 (2004) | - |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (not reported to be active) (2002) | 1 (1997) |
Terrain | mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs | flat and low (most areas do not exceed four meters in elevation) |
Total fertility rate | 4.16 children born/woman (2006 est.) | - |
Unemployment rate | 2% official rate; underemployment 70% (1992 est.) | - |
Waterways | 5 km (small network of canals in Line Islands) (2003) | none |