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KIRIBATI

@Kiribati:Geography

 Location: Oceania, group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, straddling
 the equator and the International Date Line, about one-half of the way
 from Hawaii to Australia

 Map references: Oceania
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KIRIBATI - MAJOR CITIES 
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                                        Latitude,      Internat'l     Time   
                        Population      Longitude      Phone Code     Zone   
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
BAIRIKI/TARAWA              21,000     1.23N,173.09E     686-        GMT-11  
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 Area:
 total area: 717 sq km
 land area: 717 sq km
 comparative area: slightly more than four times the size of
 Washington, DC
 note: includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands,
 Phoenix Islands

 Land boundaries: 0 km

 Coastline: 1,143 km

 Maritime claims:
 exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
 territorial sea: 12 nm

 International disputes: none

 Climate: tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds

 Terrain: mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs

 Natural resources: phosphate (production discontinued in 1979)

 Land use:
 arable land: 0%
 permanent crops: 51%
 meadows and pastures: 0%
 forest and woodland: 3%
 other: 46%

 Irrigated land: NA sq km

 Environment:
 current issues: NA
 natural hazards: typhoons can occur any time, but usually November to
 March; occasional tornadoes
 international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Endangered Species,
 Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified -
 Climate Change

 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

@Kiribati:People

 Population: 79,386 (July 1995 est.)

 Age structure:
 0-14 years: NA
 15-64 years: NA
 65 years and over: NA

 Population growth rate: 1.95% (1995 est.)

 Birth rate: 31.25 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Death rate: 12.31 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Net migration rate: 0.56 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

 Infant mortality rate: 98.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

 Life expectancy at birth:
 total population: 54.16 years
 male: 52.56 years
 female: 55.78 years (1995 est.)

 Total fertility rate: 3.73 children born/woman (1995 est.)

 Nationality:
 noun: I-Kiribati (singular and plural)
 adjective: I-Kiribati

 Ethnic divisions: Micronesian

 Religions: Roman Catholic 52.6%, Protestant (Congregational) 40.9%,
 Seventh-Day Adventist, Baha'i, Church of God, Mormon 6% (1985)

 Languages: English (official), Gilbertese

 Literacy: NA%

 Labor force: 7,870 economically active, not including subsistence
 farmers (1985 est.)

@Kiribati:Government

 Names:
 conventional long form: Republic of Kiribati
 conventional short form: Kiribati
 former: Gilbert Islands

 Digraph: KR

 Type: republic

 Capital: Tarawa

 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 (Abaiang, Abemama, Aranuka, Arorae, Banaba, Beru,
 Butaritari, Kanton, Kiritimati, Kuria, Maiana, Makin, Marakei,
 Nikunau, Nonouti, Onotoa, Tabiteuea, Tabuaeran, Tamana, Tarawa,
 Teraina; note - one council for each of the inhabited islands)

 Independence: 12 July 1979 (from UK)

 National holiday: Independence Day, 12 July (1979)

 Constitution: 12 July 1979

 Legal system: NA

 Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

 Executive branch:
 chief of state and head of government: President (Beretitenti)
 Teburoro TITO (since 1 October 1994); Vice President
 (Kauoman-ni-Beretitenti) Tewareka TENTOA (since 12 October 1994);
 election last held on 30 September 1994 (next to be held by NA 1999)
 cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the president from an elected
 parliament

 Legislative branch: unicameral
 House of Assembly (Maneaba Ni Maungatabu): elections last held on 22
 July 1994 (next to be held by NA 1999); results - percent of vote by
 party NA; seats - (40 total; 39 elected) Maneaban Te Mauri 13,
 National Progressive Party 7, independents 19

 Judicial branch: Court of Appeal, High Court

 Political parties and leaders: National Progressive Party, Teatao
 TEANNAKI; Christian Democratic Party, Teburoro TITO; New Movement
 Party, leader NA; Liberal Party, Tewareka TENTOA; Maneaba Party,
 Roniti TEIWAKI; Maneaban Te Mauri, leader NA
 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

 Member of: ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFC, IFRCS
 (associate), IMF, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, ITU,
 SPARTECA, SPC, SPF, UNESCO, UPU, WHO

 Diplomatic representation in US: Kiribati has no mission in the US

 US diplomatic representation: the ambassador to Fiji is accredited to
 Kiribati

 Flag: 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

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 in 1979. Copra and fish now
 represent the bulk of production and exports. The economy has
 fluctuated widely in recent years. Real GDP declined about 5% in 1987,
 as the fish catch fell sharply to only one-fourth the level of 1986
 and copra production was hampered by repeated rains. Output rebounded
 strongly in 1988, with real GDP growing by 10%. The upturn in economic
 growth came from an increase in copra production and a good fish
 catch. GDP then fell by 2.2% in 1989 and by 2.9% in 1990, but has
 risen by about 3% annually in 1991-93. Foreign financial aid, largely
 from the UK and Japan, is a critical supplement to GDP, amounting to
 25%-50% of GDP in recent years.

 National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $62 million (1993
 est.)

 National product real growth rate: 2.9% (1993 est.)

 National product per capita: $800 (1993 est.)

 Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.5% (1993 est.)

 Unemployment rate: 2%; underemployment 70% (1992 est.)

 Budget:
 revenues: $29.6 million
 expenditures: $32.8 million, including capital expenditures of $14
 million (1993 est.)

 Exports: $4.2 million (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
 commodities: copra 50%, seaweed 16%, fish 15%
 partners: Denmark, Fiji, US

 Imports: $33.1 million (c.i.f., 1992 est.)
 commodities: foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, miscellaneous
 manufactured goods, fuel
 partners: Australia 40%, Japan 18%, Fiji 17%, NZ 6%, US 4% (1991)

 External debt: $2 million (December 1989 est.)

 Industrial production: growth rate 0.7% (1992 est.); accounts for less
 than 4% of GDP

 Electricity:
 capacity: 5,000 kW
 production: 13 million kWh
 consumption per capita: 131 kWh (1993)

 Industries: fishing, handicrafts

 Agriculture: accounts for 23% of GDP (including fishing); copra and
 fish contribute about 65% to exports; subsistence farming
 predominates; food crops - taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes,
 vegetables; not self-sufficient in food

 Economic aid:
 recipient: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral
 commitments (1970-89), $273 million

 Currency: 1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents

 Exchange rates: Australian dollars ($A) per US$1 - 1.3058 (January
 1995), 1.3667 (1994), 1.4704 (1993), 1.3600 (1992), 1.2835 (1991),
 1.2799 (1990)

 Fiscal year: NA

@Kiribati:Transportation

 Railroads: 0 km

 Highways:
 total: 640 km
 paved: NA
 unpaved: NA

 Inland waterways: small network of canals, totaling 5 km, in Line
 Islands

 Ports: Banaba, Betio, English Harbor, Kanton

 Merchant marine:
 total: 1 passenger-cargo ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,291
 GRT/1,295 DWT

 Airports:
 total: 21
 with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
 with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 1
 with paved runways under 914 m: 5
 with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 11

@Kiribati:Communications

 Telephone system: 1,400 telephones
 local: NA
 intercity: NA
 international: 1 INTELSAT (Pacific Ocean) earth station

 Radio:
 broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0
 radios: NA

 Television:
 broadcast stations: 0
 televisions: NA

@Kiribati:Defense Forces

 Branches: Police Force (carries out law enforcement functions and
 paramilitary duties; there are small police posts on all islands); no
 military force is maintained

 Defense expenditures: $NA, NA% of GDP


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