Compare Kiribati (2008) - British Virgin Islands (2004)

Compare Kiribati (2008) z British Virgin Islands (2004)

	Kiribati (2008)	British Virgin Islands (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 (overseas territory of the UK)
Age structure	0-14 years: 38.2% (male 20,886/female 20,322) 15-64 years: 58.4% (male 31,083/female 31,884) 65 years and over: 3.4% (male 1,554/female 2,088) (2007 est.)	0-14 years: 21.5% (male 2,402; female 2,361) 15-64 years: 73.5% (male 8,395; female 7,911) 65 years and over: 5% (male 594; female 524) (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products	copra, taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, vegetables; fish	fruits, vegetables; livestock, poultry; fish
Airports	19 (2007)	3 (2003 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 (2007)	total: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 15 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 4 (2007)	total: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.)
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: 153 sq km land: 153 sq km water: 0 sq km note: comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands; includes the island of Anegada
Area - comparative	four times the size of Washington, DC	about 0.9 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.	First settled by the Dutch in 1648, the islands were annexed in 1672 by the English. The economy is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal currency.
Birth rate	30.48 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)	14.96 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Budget	revenues: $55.52 million expenditures: $59.71 million (FY05)	revenues: $121.5 million expenditures: $115.5 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1997)
Capital	name: Tarawa geographic coordinates: 1 19 N, 172 58 E time difference: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)	Road Town
Climate	tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds	subtropical; humid; temperatures moderated by trade winds
Coastline	1,143 km	80 km
Constitution	12 July 1979	1 June 1977
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: none conventional short form: British Virgin Islands abbreviation: BVI
Currency	-	US dollar (USD)
Death rate	8.12 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)	4.42 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Debt - external	$10 million (1999 est.)	$36.1 million (1997)
Dependency status	-	overseas territory of the UK; internal self-governing
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	none
Economic aid - recipient	$27.84 million largely from UK and Japan (2005)	NA
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. Private sector initiatives and a financial sector are in the early stages of development. Foreign financial aid from UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and China equals more than 10% 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.	The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 350,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 1998. Tourism suffered in 2002 because of the lackluster US economy. In the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate substantial revenues. Roughly 400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. The adoption of a comprehensive insurance law in late 1994, which provides a blanket of confidentiality with regulated statutory gateways for investigation of criminal offenses, is expected to make the British Virgin Islands even more attractive to international business. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic food requirements. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the dollar as its currency since 1959.
Electricity - consumption	8.37 million kWh (2005)	35.43 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2005)	0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2005)	0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - production	9 million kWh (2005)	38.1 million kWh (2001)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Banaba 81 m	lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Mount Sage 521 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	limited natural fresh water resources (except for a few seasonal streams and springs on Tortola, most of the islands' water supply comes from wells and rainwater catchments)
Environment - international agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements	-
Ethnic groups	Micronesian 98.8%, other 1.2% (2000 census)	black 83%, white, Indian, Asian and mixed
Exchange rates	Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.2137 (2007), 1.3285 (2006), 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003)	the US dollar is used
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 17 October 2007 (next to be held in 2011); vice president appointed by the president election results: Anote TONG 63.7%, Nabuti MWEMWENIKARAWA 32.9%	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor Tom MACAN (since 14 October 2002) head of government: Chief Minister Orlando D. SMITH (since 17 June 2003) cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor from members of the Legislative Council elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed chief minister by the governor
Exports	0 bbl/day (2004)	NA (2001)
Exports - commodities	copra 62%, coconuts, seaweed, fish	rum, fresh fish, fruits, animals; gravel, sand
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% (2006)	Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US
Fiscal year	NA	1 April - 31 March
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	blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Virgin Islander coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts a woman flanked on either side by a vertical column of six oil lamps above a scroll bearing the Latin word VIGILATE (Be Watchful)
GDP	-	purchasing power parity - $320 million (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 8.9% industry: 24.2% services: 66.8% (2004)	agriculture: 1.8% industry: 6.2% services: 92% (1996 est.)
GDP - per capita	-	purchasing power parity - $16,000 (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	0.3% (2005)	1% (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates	1 25 N, 173 00 E	18 30 N, 64 30 W
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	strong ties to nearby US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico
Highways	-	total: 177 km paved: 177 km unpaved: 0 km (2000)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA
Illicit drugs	-	transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe; large offshore financial center makes it vulnerable to money laundering
Imports	216.4 bbl/day (2004)	NA (2001)
Imports - commodities	foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, miscellaneous manufactured goods, fuel	building materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, machinery
Imports - partners	Australia 33%, Fiji 27.1%, Japan 18.1%, NZ 6.9% (2006)	Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US
Independence	12 July 1979 (from UK)	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Industrial production growth rate	0.7% (1991 est.)	NA
Industries	fishing, handicrafts	tourism, light industry, construction, rum, concrete block, offshore financial center
Infant mortality rate	total: 46.02 deaths/1,000 live births male: 51.03 deaths/1,000 live births female: 40.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)	total: 18.05 deaths/1,000 live births male: 21.02 deaths/1,000 live births female: 14.95 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	0.5% (2005 est.)	2.5% (2002)
International organization participation	ACP, ADB, C, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, ITU, ITUC, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO	Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, OECS (associate), UNESCO (associate), UPU
Irrigated land	NA	NA sq km
Judicial branch	Court of Appeal; High Court; 26 Magistrates' courts; judges at all levels are appointed by the president	Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal (one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the High Court); Magistrate's Court; Juvenile Court; Court of Summary Jurisdiction
Labor force	7,870 economically active, not including subsistence farmers (2001 est.)	4,911 (1980)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 2.7% industry: 32% services: 65.3% (2000)	agriculture NA, industry NA, services NA
Land boundaries	0 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 2.74% permanent crops: 47.95% other: 49.31% (2005)	arable land: 20% permanent crops: 6.67% other: 73.33% (2001)
Languages	I-Kiribati, English (official)	English (official)
Legal system	NA	English law
Legislative branch	unicameral House of Parliament or Maneaba Ni Maungatabu (46 seats; 44 members elected by popular vote, 1 ex officio member - the attorney general, 1 nominated by the Rabi Council of Leaders (representing Banaba Island); to serve four-year terms) elections: legislative elections were held in two rounds - the first round on 22 August 2007 and the second round on 30 August 2007 (next to be held in 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA, other 2 (includes attorney general)	unicameral Legislative Council (13 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote, one member from each of 9 electoral districts, four at-large members; members serve four-year terms) elections: last held 16 May 2003 (next to be held NA 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NDP 8, VIP 5
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 62.45 years male: 59.41 years female: 65.63 years (2007 est.)	total population: 76.27 years male: 75.24 years female: 77.36 years (2004 est.)
Literacy	definition: NA total population: NA male: NA female: NA	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97.8% (1991 est.) male: NA female: NA
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 (UTC +12) even though the Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands under its jurisdiction lie on the other side of the International Date Line	Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico
Map references	Oceania	Central America and the Caribbean
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm	territorial sea: 3 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Merchant marine	total: 7 ships (1000 GRT or over) 28,435 GRT/42,682 DWT by type: bulk carrier 1, cargo 3, passenger/cargo 1, refrigerated cargo 2 foreign-owned: 3 (Malaysia 1, Singapore 1, Turkey 1) (2007)	total: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 83,825 GRT/155,909 DWT by type: cargo 1, liquefied gas 1, petroleum tanker 1 foreign-owned: Norway 1 registered in other countries: 32 (2004 est.)
Military - note	Kiribati does not have military forces; defense assistance is provided by Australia and NZ	defense is the responsibility of the UK
Military branches	no regular military forces; Police Force (carries out law enforcement functions and paramilitary duties; small police posts are on all islands) (2007)	-
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	NA	-
National holiday	Independence Day, 12 July (1979)	Territory Day, 1 July
Nationality	noun: I-Kiribati (singular and plural) adjective: I-Kiribati	noun: British Virgin Islander(s) adjective: British Virgin Islander
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	hurricanes and tropical storms (July to October)
Natural resources	phosphate (production discontinued in 1979)	NEGL
Net migration rate	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)	10.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 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	Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Ethlyn SMITH]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Orlando SMITH]; United Party or UP [Gregory MADURO]; Virgin Islands Party or VIP [Ralph T. O'NEAL]
Political pressure groups and leaders	NA	NA
Population	107,817 (July 2007 est.)	22,187 (July 2004 est.)
Population below poverty line	NA%	NA
Population growth rate	2.235% (2007 est.)	2.06% (2004 est.)
Ports and harbors	-	Road Town
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (may be inactive) (2002)	AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 0 (1998)
Religions	Roman Catholic 52%, Protestant (Congregational) 40%, other (includes Seventh-Day Adventist, Muslim, Baha'i, Latter-day Saints, Church of God) 8% (1999)	Protestant 86% (Methodist 33%, Anglican 17%, Church of God 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6%, Baptist 4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2%, other 15%), Roman Catholic 10%, none 2%, other 2% (1991)
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.028 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.975 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.744 male(s)/female total population: 0.986 male(s)/female (2007 est.)	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.13 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2004 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	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: worldwide telephone service domestic: NA international: country code - 1-284; submarine cable to Bermuda
Telephones - main lines in use	4,500 (2002)	11,700 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	600 (2004)	8,000 (2002)
Television broadcast stations	1 (possibly inactive) (2002)	1 (plus one cable company) (1997)
Terrain	mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs	coral islands relatively flat; volcanic islands steep, hilly
Total fertility rate	4.12 children born/woman (2007 est.)	1.72 children born/woman (2004 est.)
Unemployment rate	2% official rate; underemployment 70% (1992 est.)	3% (1995)
Waterways	5 km (small network of canals in Line Islands) (2007)	-

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