| Location: |
Oceania, group 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 (UTC +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
land: 811 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: |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 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: 2.74%
permanent crops: 47.95%
other: 49.31% (2005) |
| Irrigated land: |
NA |
| 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, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling
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 |
