none; offshore anchorage only

Airports: lagoon was used as a halfway station between Hawaii and
American Samoa by Pan American Airways for flying boats in 1937 and
1938

Military

Military--note: defense is the responsibility of the US

Transnational Issues

Disputes--international: none

======================================================================

@Kiribati
--------

Geography

Location: Oceania, group of islands in the Pacific Ocean,
straddling the equator, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to
Australia; note--on 1 January 1995, Kiribati unilaterally moved the
International Date Line from the middle of the country to include
its easternmost islands and make it the same day throughout the
country

Geographic coordinates: 1 25 N, 173 00 E

Map references: Oceania

Area:
total: 717 sq km
land: 717 sq km
water: 0 sq km
note: includes three island groups--Gilbert Islands, Line Islands,
Phoenix Islands

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: NA%
permanent crops: 51%
permanent pastures: NA%
forests and woodland: 3%
other: 46% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Natural hazards: typhoons can occur any time, but usually
November to March; occasional tornadoes

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, Desertication, Endangered
Species, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography--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

People

Population: 85,501