because they have no party headquarters, formal platforms, or party
structures

International organization participation: ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP,
IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFC, IMF, Intelsat (nonsignatory user),
Interpol, ITU, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UNESCO, UPU, WHO

Diplomatic representation in US: Kiribati does not have an embassy
in the US

US diplomatic representation: the US does not have an embassy in
Kiribati; 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
-------

Economic 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 growth has
declined from about 10% in 1988 to about 2.6% in 1995. Economic
development is constrained by a shortage of skilled workers, weak
infrastructure, and remoteness from international markets. The
financial sector is at an early stage of development. Foreign
financial aid, largely from the UK and Japan, is a critical
supplement to GDP, equal in amount to 25%-50% of GDP in recent years.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $68 million (1995 est.)

GDP real growth rate: 2.6% (1995 est.)

GDP per capita: $860 (1995 est.)

GDP composition by sector:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.5% (1994 est.)

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

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

Budget:
revenues: $32.5 million
expenditures: $54.3 million, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1995 est.)

Industries: fishing, handicrafts

Industrial production growth rate: 0.7% (1992 est.)

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

Agriculture: copra, taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, vegetables;
fish

Exports: $6.3 million (f.o.b., 1995 est.)
commodities: copra 50%, seaweed 16%, fish 15%
partners: Denmark, Fiji, US

Imports: $38.6 million (c.i.f., 1995 est.)
commodities: foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, misc