Norfolk Island (2005) | Kiribati (2002) | |
Administrative divisions | none (territory of Australia) | 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: 20.2%
15-64 years: 63.9% 65 years and over: 15.9% (2005 est.) |
0-14 years: 40.2% (male 19,588; female 19,092)
15-64 years: 56.6% (male 26,905; female 27,625) 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 1,339; female 1,786) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | Norfolk Island pine seed, Kentia palm seed, cereals, vegetables, fruit; cattle, poultry | copra, taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, vegetables; fish |
Airports | 1 (2004 est.) | 21 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 4
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 16
914 to 1,523 m: 12 under 914 m: 4 (2002) |
Area | total: 34.6 sq km
land: 34.6 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 811 sq km
land: 811 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands |
Area - comparative | about 0.2 times the size of Washington, DC | four times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | Two British attempts at establishing the island as a penal colony (1788-1814 and 1825-55) were ultimately abandoned. In 1856, the island was resettled by Pitcairn Islanders, descendants of the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian companions. | 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 | NA | 31.58 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $20 million
expenditures: $20 million, including capital expenditures of $2 million (FY99/00) |
revenues: $28.4 million
expenditures: $37.2 million, including capital expenditures of $NA million (2000 est.) (2000 est.) |
Capital | Kingston | Tarawa |
Climate | subtropical; mild, little seasonal temperature variation | tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds |
Coastline | 32 km | 1,143 km |
Constitution | Norfolk Island Act of 1979 | 12 July 1979 |
Country name | conventional long form: Territory of Norfolk Island
conventional short form: Norfolk Island |
conventional long form: Republic of Kiribati
conventional short form: Kiribati note: pronounced kir-ih-bahss former: Gilbert Islands |
Currency | - | Australian dollar (AUD) |
Death rate | NA | 8.76 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | NA | $10 million (1999 est.) |
Dependency status | territory of Australia; Canberra administers Commonwealth responsibilities on Norfolk Island through the Department of Environment, Sport, and Territories | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (territory of Australia) | 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 (territory of Australia) | 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 | Tourism, the primary economic activity, has steadily increased over the years and has brought a level of prosperity unusual among inhabitants of the Pacific islands. The agricultural sector has become self-sufficient in the production of beef, poultry, and eggs. | 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, from UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and China, 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. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | 6.51 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | - | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | - | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | NA kWh | 7 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Bates 319 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 | descendants of the Bounty mutineers, Australian, New Zealander, Polynesians | predominantly Micronesian with some Polynesian |
Exchange rates | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001), 1.7248 (2000) | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.9354 (January 2002), 1.9320 (2001), 1.7173 (2000), 1.5497 (1999), 1.5888 (1998), 1.3439 (1997) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); the UK and Australia are represented by Administrator Grant TAMBLING (since 1 November 2003)
head of government: Assembly President and Chief Minister Geoffrey Robert GARDNER (since 5 December 2001) cabinet: Executive Council is made up of four of the nine members of the Legislative Assembly; the council devises government policy and acts as an advisor to the administrator elections: the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the governor general of Australia; chief minister elected by the Legislative Assembly for a term of not more than three years; election last held 20 Ocotber 2004 (next to be held by December 2007) election results: Geoffrey Robert GARDNER elected chief minister; percent of Legislative Assembly vote - 17.2% |
chief of state: President Teburoro TITO (since 1 October 1994); Vice President Beniamina TIINGA (since NA December 2000); 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 Beniamina TIINGA (since NA December 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government 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 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 25 February 2003 (next to be held by November 2007); vice president appointed by the president election results: Teburoro TITO reelected president; percent of vote - Teburoro TITO 50.4%, Taberannang TIMEON 48.4%, Bakeua Bakeua TEKITA 1.2% |
Exports | $1.5 million f.o.b. (FY99/00) | $6 million f.o.b. (1998) |
Exports - commodities | postage stamps, seeds of the Norfolk Island pine and Kentia palm, small quantities of avocados | copra 62%, coconuts, seaweed, fish |
Exports - partners | Australia, other Pacific island countries, NZ, Asia, Europe | Japan, Bangladesh, US, Australia, Brazil, Poland (2000) |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | NA |
Flag description | three vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and green with a large green Norfolk Island pine tree centered in the slightly wider white band | 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 - $79 million (2001 est.), supplemented by a nearly equal amount from external sources (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA
industry: NA services: NA |
agriculture: 30%
industry: 7% services: 63% (1998 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - NA | purchasing power parity - $840 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | NA | 1.5% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 29 02 S, 167 57 E | 1 25 N, 173 00 E |
Geography - note | most of the 32-km coastline consists of almost inaccessible cliffs, but the land slopes down to the sea in one small southern area on Sydney Bay, where the capital of Kingston is situated | 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 |
Highways | total: 80 km
paved: 53 km unpaved: 27 km (2001) |
total: 670 km
paved: NA km unpaved: NA km note: 27 km are paved in South Tarawa (2001) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $17.9 million c.i.f. (FY91/92) | $44 million c.i.f. (1999) |
Imports - commodities | NA | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, miscellaneous manufactured goods, fuel |
Imports - partners | Australia, other Pacific island countries, NZ, Asia, Europe | Australia, Japan, Fiji, Poland, US (2000) |
Independence | none (territory of Australia) | 12 July 1979 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | 0.7% (1991 est.) |
Industries | tourism, light industry, ready mixed concrete | fishing, handicrafts |
Infant mortality rate | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
52.63 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA | 2.5% (2001 est.) |
International organization participation | UPU | ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, 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 | Supreme Court; Court of Petty Sessions | Court of Appeal; High Court; 26 Magistrates' courts; judges at all levels are appointed by the president |
Labor force | 1,345 | 7,870 economically active, not including subsistence farmers (1985 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | tourism 90%, subsistence agriculture 10% | - |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2001) |
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 50.68% other: 49.32% (1998 est.) |
Languages | English (official), Norfolk a mixture of 18th century English and ancient Tahitian | I-Kiribati, English (official) |
Legal system | based on the laws of Australia, local ordinances and acts; English common law applies in matters not covered by either Australian or Norfolk Island law | NA |
Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Assembly (9 seats; members elected by electors who have nine equal votes each but only four votes can be given to any one candidate; members serve three-year terms)
elections: last held 20 October 2004 (next to be held by December 2007) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 9 (note - no political parties) |
unicameral House of Parliament or Maneaba Ni Maungatabu (42 seats; 39 elected by popular vote, one ex officio member - the attorney general, one appointed to represent Banaba, and one other; members serve four-year terms)
elections: first round elections last held 29 November 2002; second round elections held 6 December 2002 (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) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: NA
male: NA female: NA |
total population: 60.54 years
male: 57.61 years female: 63.62 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | NA | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia | 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 |
Map references | Oceania | Oceania |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 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 (2002 est.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of Australia | 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 | Bounty Day (commemorates the arrival of Pitcairn Islanders), 8 June (1856) | Independence Day, 12 July (1979) |
Nationality | noun: Norfolk Islander(s)
adjective: Norfolk Islander(s) |
noun: I-Kiribati (singular and plural)
adjective: I-Kiribati |
Natural hazards | typhoons (especially May to July) | 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 | fish | phosphate (production discontinued in 1979) |
Net migration rate | NA | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | none | Boutokaan Te Koaua Party or BTK [Taberannang TIMEON]; Maneaban Te Mauri Party or MTM [Teburoro TITO]; 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 |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | NA |
Population | 1,828 (July 2005 est.) | 96,335 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | NA% |
Population growth rate | -0.01% (2005 est.) | 2.28% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none; loading jetties at Kingston and Cascade | Banaba, Betio, English Harbour, Kanton |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 3, shortwave 0 (2005) | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1
note: the shortwave station may be inactive (2002) |
Radios | - | 17,000 (1997) |
Railways | - | 0 km |
Religions | Anglican 34.9%, Roman Catholic 11.7%, Uniting Church in Australia 11.2%, Seventh-Day Adventist 2.8%, Australian Christian 2.4%, Jehovah's Witness 0.9%, other 2.7%, unspecified 15.3%, none 18.1% (2001 census) | Roman Catholic 52%, Protestant (Congregational) 40%, some Seventh-Day Adventist, Muslim, Baha'i, Latter-day Saints, and Church of God (1999) |
Sex ratio | NA | 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 (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: adequate
domestic: free local calls international: country code - 672; undersea coaxial cable links with Australia, New Zealand, and Canada; satellite earth station |
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 | 2,532; note - a mix of analog (2500) and digital (32) circuits (2004) | 3,800 (1999) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (proposed cellular service disallowed in August 2002 island referendum) (2002) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (local programming station plus two repeaters that bring in Australian programs by satellite) (2005) | 1 (not reported to be active) (2002) |
Terrain | volcanic formation with mostly rolling plains | mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs |
Total fertility rate | NA | 4.32 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 0% | 2%; underemployment 70% (1992 est.) |
Waterways | - | 5 km (small network of canals in Line Islands) |