Kiribati

Internet country code

.ki

Internet users

2,000 (2002)

Radio broadcast stations

AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 note: the shortwave station may be inactive (2002)

Telephone system

general assessment: generally good quality national and international service domestic: wire line service available on Tarawa and Kiritimati; connections to outer islands by HF/VHF radiotelephone; wireless service available in Tarawa since 1999 international: country code - 686; Kiribati is being linked to the Pacific Ocean Cooperative Telecommunications Network, which should improve telephone service; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean)

Telephones - main lines in use

4,500 (2002)

Telephones - mobile cellular

500 (2002)

Television broadcast stations

1 (not reported to be active) (2002)

Agriculture - products

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

Budget

revenues: $28.4 million expenditures: $37.2 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2000 est.)

Currency (code)

Australian dollar (AUD)

Debt - external

$10 million (1999 est.)

Economic aid - recipient

$15.5 million largely from UK and Japan (2001 est.)

Economy - overview

A remote country of 33 scattered coral atolls, Kiribati has few natural 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 expansion of private sector initiatives. Foreign financial aid from UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and China equals 25%-50% of GDP. Remittances from workers abroad account for more than $5 million each year.

Electricity - consumption

6.51 million kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports

0 kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports

0 kWh (2002)

Electricity - production

7 million kWh (2002)

Exchange rates

Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001), 1.7248 (2000)

Exports

$35 million f.o.b. (2002)

Exports - commodities

copra 62%, coconuts, seaweed, fish

Exports - partners

France 45.7%, Japan 29.2%, US 9.1%, Thailand 5.4% (2004)

Fiscal year

NA

GDP (purchasing power parity)

$79 million - supplemented by a nearly equal amount from external sources (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector

agriculture: 30% industry: 7% services: 63% (1998 est.)

GDP - per capita

purchasing power parity - $800 (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate

1.5% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA

Imports

$83 million c.i.f. (2002)

Imports - commodities

foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, miscellaneous manufactured goods, fuel

Imports - partners

Australia 33.6%, Fiji 29.8%, Japan 10.3%, New Zealand 6.9%, France 4.1% (2004)

Industrial production growth rate

0.7% (1991 est.)

Industries

fishing, handicrafts

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

2.5% (2001 est.)

Labor force

7,870 economically active, not including subsistence farmers (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption

190 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports

NA

Oil - imports

NA

Oil - production

0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Population below poverty line

NA

Unemployment rate

2%; underemployment 70% (1992 est.)

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

Climate

tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds

Coastline

1,143 km

Elevation extremes

lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Banaba 81 m

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 signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geographic coordinates

1 25 N, 173 00 E

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

Irrigated land

NA

Land boundaries

0 km

Land use

arable land: 2.74% permanent crops: 50.68% other: 46.58% (2001)

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 (GMT +12) even though the Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands under its jurisdiction lie on the other side of the International Date Line

Map references

Oceania

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

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

Natural resources

phosphate (production discontinued in 1979)

Terrain

mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs

Administrative divisions

3 units; Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands; note - in addition, there are 6 districts (Banaba, Central Gilberts, Line Islands, Northern Gilberts, Southern Gilberts, Tarawa) and 21 island councils - one for each of the inhabited islands (Abaiang, Abemama, Aranuka, Arorae, Banaba, Beru, Butaritari, Kanton, Kiritimati, Kuria, Maiana, Makin, Marakei, Nikunau, Nonouti, Onotoa, Tabiteuea, Tabuaeran, Tamana, Tarawa, Teraina)

Capital

Tarawa

Constitution

12 July 1979

Country name

conventional long form: Republic of Kiribati conventional short form: Kiribati note: pronounced keer-ree-bahss former: Gilbert Islands

Diplomatic representation from the US

the US does not have an embassy in Kiribati; the ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Kiribati

Diplomatic representation in the US

Kiribati does not have an embassy in the US; there is an honorary consulate in Honolulu

Executive branch

chief of state: President Anote TONG (since 10 July 2003); Vice President Teima ONORIO; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Anote TONG (since 10 July 2003); Vice President Teima ONORIO; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: 12-member Cabinet appointed by the president from among the members of the House of Parliament elections: the House of Parliament chooses the presidential candidates from among its members and then those candidates compete in a general election; president is elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 4 July 2003 (next to be held not later than July 2007); vice president appointed by the president election results: Anote TONG 47.4%, Harry TONG 43.5%, Banuera BERINA 9.1%

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

Government type

republic

Independence

12 July 1979 (from UK)

International organization participation

ACP, AsDB, C, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO

Judicial branch

Court of Appeal; High Court; 26 Magistrates' courts; judges at all levels are appointed by the president

Legal system

NA

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: first round elections last held 29 November 2002; second round elections held 6 December 2002 (next to be held by November 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - BTK 17, MTM 16, independents 7, other 2 (includes attorney general) note: legislative elections were held in two rounds - the first round on 9 May 2003 and the second round on 14 May 2003

National holiday

Independence Day, 12 July (1979)

Political parties and leaders

Boutokaan Te Koaua Party or BTK [Taberannang TIMEON]; Maneaban Te Mauri Party or MTM [Teburoro TITO]; Maurin Kiribati Pati or MKP [leader NA]; National Progressive Party or NPP [Dr. Harry TONG] 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

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Background

The Gilbert Islands were granted self-rule by the UK in 1971 and complete independence in 1979 under the new name of Kiribati. The US relinquished all claims to the sparsely inhabited Phoenix and Line Island groups in a 1979 treaty of friendship with Kiribati.

Military - note

Kiribati does not have military forces; defense assistance is provided by Australia and NZ

Military branches

no regular military forces; Police Force (carries out law enforcement functions and paramilitary duties; small police posts are on all islands)

Military expenditures - dollar figure

NA

Military expenditures - percent of GDP

NA

Age structure

0-14 years: 38.9% (male 20,342/female 19,806) 15-64 years: 57.7% (male 29,362/female 30,136) 65 years and over: 3.3% (male 1,477/female 1,969) (2005 est.)

Birth rate

30.86 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate

8.37 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Ethnic groups

Micronesian 98.8%, other 1.2% (2000 census)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths

NA

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

NA

Infant mortality rate

total: 48.52 deaths/1,000 live births male: 53.64 deaths/1,000 live births female: 43.16 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Languages

I-Kiribati, English (official)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 61.71 years male: 58.71 years female: 64.86 years (2005 est.)

Literacy

definition: NA total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA%

Median age

total: 20.05 years male: 19.61 years female: 20.58 years (2005 est.)

Nationality

noun: I-Kiribati (singular and plural) adjective: I-Kiribati

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Population

103,092 (July 2005 est.)

Population growth rate

2.25% (2005 est.)

Religions

Roman Catholic 52%, Protestant (Congregational) 40%, some Seventh-Day Adventist, Muslim, Baha'i, Latter-day Saints, and Church of God (1999)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate

4.2 children born/woman (2005 est.)

Disputes - international

none

Airports

20 (2004 est.)

Airports - with paved runways

total: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 (2004 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways

total: 17 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 12 under 914 m: 4 (2004 est.)

Highways

total: 670 km paved: NA km unpaved: NA km (1999 est.)

Merchant marine

total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,291 GRT/1,295 DWT by type: passenger/cargo 1 (2005)

Ports and harbors

Betio

Waterways

5 km (small network of canals in Line Islands) (2003)