oup 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

Geographic coordinates: 1 25 N, 173 00 E

Map references: Oceania

Area: total: 811 sq km note: includes three island groups - Gilbert
Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands water: 0 sq km land: 811 sq km

Area - comparative: four times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 1,143 km

Maritime claims: exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 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 location on Banaba 81 m

Natural resources: phosphate (production discontinued in 1979)

Land use: arable land: 51% permanent crops: 0% other: 49% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Natural hazards: 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

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,
Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection 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

People Kiribati

Population: 96,335 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 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.)

Population growth rate: 2.28% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 31.58 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 8.76 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)