nch: Court of Appeal; High Court; 26 Magistrates'
courts; judges at all levels are appointed by the president

Political parties and leaders: Maneaban Te Mauri Party [Teburoro
TITO]; National Progressive Party [Teatao TEANNAKI]

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: NA

International organization participation: ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, FAO,
IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat
(nonsignatory user), ITU, OPCW, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNESCO, UPU,
WHO, WTrO (applicant)

Diplomatic representation in the US: Kiribati does not have an
embassy in the US; there is an honorary consulate in Honolulu

Diplomatic representation from the US: the US does not have an
embassy in Kiribati; the ambassador to the Marshall Islands is
accredited to Kiribati

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

Kiribati Economy

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 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, largely from the UK and Japan,
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. Performance in 2000 fell short of the 2.5% growth
in 1999, which benefited from increased copra production and
exceptionally large revenues from fishing licenses.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $76 million (2000 est.), supplemented
by a nearly equal amount from external sources

GDP - real growth rate: 1% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $850 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 14%