the members of the House of
Parliament head of government: President Teburoro TITO (since 1 October
1994); Vice President Beniamina TIINGA (since NA December 2000); note -
the president is both the chief of state and head of government

Legislative branch: unicameral House of Parliament or Maneaba Ni
Maungatabu (42 seats; 39 elected by popular vote, one ex officio member -
the attorney general, one appointed to represent Banaba, and one other;
members serve four-year terms) elections: last held 23 September 1998
(next to be held by October 2002) election results: percent of vote
by party - NA%; seats by party - Maneaban Te Mauri Party 14, National
Progressive Party 11, independents 14

Judicial branch: 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, 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

Economy Kiribati

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 ex