Kiribati

Map of Kiribati

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
Capital::           Tarawa geographic coordinates: 0 53 S, 169 32 E time difference: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: on 1 January 1995, Kiribati proclaimed that all of its territory was in the same time zone as its Gilbert Islands group (UTC +12) even though the Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands under its jurisdiction were on the other side of the International Date Line
Government type: republic
Location	Oceania, group of 33 coral atolls in the Pacific Ocean, straddling the Equator, as well as the International Date Line; the capital Tarawa is about half way between Hawaii and Australia
Geographic coordinates	1 25 N, 173 00 E
Map references	Oceania
Area	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	four times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries	0 km
Coastline	1,143 km
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate	tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds
Terrain	mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed elevation on Banaba 81 m
Natural resources	phosphate (production discontinued in 1979)
Land use	arable land: 2.74% permanent crops: 47.95% other: 49.31% (2005)
Irrigated land	NA
Natural hazards	typhoons can occur any time, but usually November to March; occasional tornadoes; low level of some of the islands make them sensitive to changes in sea level
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
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
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; Kiribati is the only country in the world to fall into all four hemispheres (northern, southern, eastern, and western)