Kiribati

Airports

total: 21 usable: 20 with permanent-surface runways: 4 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 0 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 5

Highways

total: 640 km paved: NA unpaved: NA

Inland waterways

small network of canals, totaling 5 km, in Line Islands

Merchant marine

1 passenger-cargo ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,291 GRT/1,295 DWT

Ports

Banaba and Betio (Tarawa)

Telecommunications

1,400 telephones; broadcast stations - 1 AM, no FM, no TV; 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth station

Branches

Police Force (carries out law enforcement functions and paramilitary duties; there are small police posts on all islands); no military force is maintained

Defense expenditures

$NA, NA% of GDP

Agriculture

accounts for 23% of GDP (including fishing); copra and fish contribute about 65% to exports; subsistence farming predominates; food crops - taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, vegetables; not self-sufficient in food

Budget

revenues: $29.9 million expenditures: $16.3 million, including capital expenditures of $14 million (1990 est.)

Currency

1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents

Economic aid

recipient: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $273 million

Electricity

capacity: 5,000 kW production: 13 million kWh consumption per capita: 190 kWh (1990)

Exchange rates

Australian dollars ($A) per US$1 - 1.4364 (January 1994), 1.4704 (1993), 1.3600 (1992), 1.2835 (1991), 1.2799 (1990), 1.2618 (1989)

Exports

$4.2 million (f.o.b., 1992 est.) commodities: copra 50%, seaweed 16%, fish 15% partners: Denmark, Fiji, US

External debt

$2 million (December 1989 est.)

Fiscal year

NA

Imports

$33.1 million (c.i.f., 1992 est.) commodities: foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, miscellaneous manufactured goods, fuel partners: Australia 40%, Japan 18%, Fiji 17%, NZ 6%, US 4% (1991)

Industrial production

growth rate 0.7% (1992 est.); accounts for less than 4% of GDP

Industries

fishing, handicrafts

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

4% (1992 est.)

National product

GDP - exchange rate conversion - $36.8 million (1990 est.)

National product per capita

$525 (1990 est.)

National product real growth rate

1.5% (1992 est.)

Overview

The country has few national resources. Commercially viable phosphate deposits were exhausted at the time of independence in 1979. Copra and fish now represent the bulk of production and exports. The economy has fluctuated widely in recent years. Real GDP declined about 8% in 1987, as the fish catch fell sharply to only one-fourth the level of 1986 and copra production was hampered by repeated rains. Output rebounded strongly in 1988, with real GDP growing by 17%. The upturn in economic growth came from an increase in copra production and a good fish catch. Following the strong surge in output in 1988, GNP increased 1% in both 1989 and 1990.

Unemployment rate

2%; underemployment 70% (1992 est.)

Area

total area: 717 sq km land area: 717 sq km comparative area: slightly more than four times the size of Washington, DC note: includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands

Climate

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

Coastline

1,143 km

Environment

current issues: NA natural hazards: typhoons can occur any time, but usually November to March; subject to occasional tornadoes international agreements: party to - Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified - Climate Change

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

NA sq km

Land boundaries

0 km

Land use

arable land: 0% permanent crops: 51% meadows and pastures: 0% forest and woodland: 3% other: 46%

Location

Oceania, Micronesia, straddling the equator in the Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and Australia

Map references

Oceania

Maritime claims

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

phosphate (production discontinued in 1979)

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

Terrain

mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs

Administrative divisions

3 units; Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands note: a new administrative structure of 6 districts (Banaba, Central Gilberts, Line Islands, Northern Gilberts, Southern Gilberts, Tarawa) may have been changed to 21 island councils (one for each of the inhabited islands) named Abaiang, Abemama, Aranuka, Arorae, Banaba, Beru, Butaritari, Canton, Kiritimati, Kuria, Maiana, Makin, Marakei, Nikunau, Nonouti, Onotoa, Tabiteuea, Tabuaeran, Tamana, Tarawa, Teraina

Capital

Tarawa

Constitution

12 July 1979

Digraph

KR

Diplomatic representation in US

Kiribati has no mission in the US

Executive branch

chief of state and head of government: President (Beretitenti) Teatao TEANNAKI (since 8 July 1991); Vice President (Kauoman-ni-Beretitenti) Taomati IUTA (since 8 July 1991); election last held on 8 July 1991 (next to be held by NA 1996); results - Teatao TEANNAKI 52%, Roniti TEIWAKI 28% cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the president from an elected parliament

Flag

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

House of Assembly (Maneaba Ni Maungatabu)

elections last held on 8 May 1991 (next to be held by NA 1996); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (40 total; 39 elected) percent of seats by party NA

Independence

12 July 1979 (from UK)

Judicial branch

Court of Appeal, High Court

Legal system

NA

Legislative branch

unicameral

Member of

ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFC, IMF, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, ITU, SPARTECA, SPC, SPF, UNESCO, UPU, WHO

Names

conventional long form: Republic of Kiribati conventional short form: Kiribati former: Gilbert Islands

National holiday

Independence Day, 12 July (1979)

Political parties and leaders

National Progressive Party, Teatao TEANNAKI; Christian Democratic Party, Teburoro TITO; New Movement Party, leader NA; Liberal Party, Tewareka TENTOA; Maneaba Party, Roniti TEIWAKI 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

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

republic

US diplomatic representation

the ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Kiribati

Birth rate

31.64 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

12.31 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Micronesian

Infant mortality rate

98.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

7,870 economically active, not including subsistence farmers (1985 est.)

Languages

English (official), Gilbertese

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 54.16 years male: 52.56 years female: 55.78 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

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

Nationality

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

Net migration rate

0.56 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

77,853 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

1.99% (1994 est.)

Religions

Roman Catholic 52.6%, Protestant (Congregational) 40.9%, Seventh-Day Adventist, Baha'i, Church of God, Mormon 6% (1985)

Total fertility rate

3.77 children born/woman (1994 est.)