]! ^! 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. 
]" ^" 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 ^# 1 25 N, 173 00 E ^$ Oceania ^% `! 811 sq km `" 811 sq km `# 0 sq km `* includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands ^& four times the size of Washington, DC ^' 0 km ^( 1,143 km ^) `$ 12 nm `N 200 nm ^* tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds ^+ mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs ^, `% Pacific Ocean 0 m `& unnamed location on Banaba 81 m ^- phosphate (production discontinued in 1979) ^. `' 2.74% `( 47.95% `) 49.31% (2005) ^/ NA ^0 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 ^1 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 _P `P Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling `Q none of the selected agreements ^2 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 
]# ^3 107,817 (July 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 38.2% (male 20,886/female 20,322) `, 58.4% (male 31,083/female 31,884) `- 3.4% (male 1,554/female 2,088) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 20.4 years `. 19.9 years `/ 20.9 years (2007 est.) ^6 2.235% (2007 est.) ^7 30.48 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 8.12 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.05 male(s)/female `1 1.028 male(s)/female `, 0.975 male(s)/female `- 0.744 male(s)/female `2 0.986 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 46.02 deaths/1,000 live births `. 51.03 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 40.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 62.45 years `. 59.41 years `/ 65.63 years (2007 est.) ^= 4.12 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> NA ^? NA ^@ NA ^A `3 I-Kiribati (singular and plural) `4 I-Kiribati ^B Micronesian 98.8%, other 1.2% (2000 census) ^C Roman Catholic 52%, Protestant (Congregational) 40%, other (includes Seventh-Day Adventist, Muslim, Baha'i, Latter-day Saints, Church of God) 8% (1999) ^D I-Kiribati, English (official) ^E `5 NA `2 NA `. NA `/ NA 
]$ ^F `6 Republic of Kiribati `7 Kiribati `Z Republic of Kiribati `[ Kiribati `* pronounced keer-ree-bahss `\ Gilbert Islands ^H republic ^I `8 Tarawa `9 1 25 N, 173 00 E `: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) ^J 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) ^K 12 July 1979 (from UK) ^L Independence Day, 12 July (1979) ^M 12 July 1979 ^N NA ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `; President Anote TONG (since 10 July 2003); Vice President Teima ONORIO; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government `< President Anote TONG (since 10 July 2003); Vice President Teima ONORIO `= 12-member cabinet appointed by the president from among the members of the House of Parliament `> 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 (eligible for two more terms); election last held 4 July 2003 (next to be held not later than July 2007); vice president appointed by the president `? Anote TONG 47.4%, Harry TONG 43.5%, Banuera BERINA 9.1% ^Q unicameral House of Parliament or Maneaba Ni Maungatabu (42 seats; 39 elected by popular vote, 1 ex officio member - the attorney general, 1 appointed to represent Banaba, and 1 other; members serve four-year terms) `> legislative elections were held in two rounds - the first round on 9 May 2003 and the second round on 14 May 2003 (next to be held by November 2006) `? percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - BTK 17, MTM 16, independents 7, other 2 (includes attorney general) ^R Court of Appeal; High Court; 26 Magistrates' courts; judges at all levels are appointed by the president ^S Boutokaan Te Koaua Party or BTK [Taberannang TIMEON]; Maneaban Te Mauri Party or MTM [Teburoro TITO]; Maurin Kiribati Pati or MKP; National Progressive Party or NPP [Dr. Harry TONG] `* 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 ^T NA ^U ACP, AsDB, C, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, ITU, ITUC, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO ^V Kiribati does not have an embassy in the US; there is an honorary consulate in Honolulu ^W the US does not have an embassy in Kiribati; the ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Kiribati ^X 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 
]% ^Y 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. Private sector initiatives and a financial sector are in the early stages of development. Foreign financial aid from UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and China equals more than 10% of GDP. Remittances from seamen on merchant ships abroad account for more than $5 million each year. Kiribati receives around $15 million annually for the government budget from an Australian trust fund. ^Z $206.4 million (2004 est.) ^[ $76.4 million (2005 est.) ^\ 0.3% (2005) ^] $2,700 (2004 est.) ^^ `@ 8.9% `A 24.2% `B 66.8% (2004) ^_ 7,870 economically active, not including subsistence farmers (2001 est.) ^` `@ 2.7% `A 32% `B 65.3% (2000) ^a 2% official rate; underemployment 70% (1992 est.) _! NA% _" `C NA% `D NA% _# 0.5% (2005 est.) _$ `E $55.52 million `F $59.71 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (FY05) _& copra, taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, vegetables; fish _' fishing, handicrafts _( 0.7% (1991 est.) _) 13 million kWh (2004) _* 12.09 million kWh (2004) _+ 0 kWh (2004) _, 0 kWh (2004) _- 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) _. 200 bbl/day (2004 est.) _/ NA bbl/day _0 NA bbl/day _1 0 cu m (2004 est.) _2 0 cu m (2004 est.) _Q $-19.87 million (2004) _3 $17 million f.o.b. (2004 est.) _4 copra 62%, coconuts, seaweed, fish _5 US 22.8%, Belgium 21.5%, Japan 14.3%, Samoa 7.8%, Australia 7.5%, Malaysia 6.7%, Taiwan 5.6%, Denmark 4.6% (2005) _6 $62 million c.i.f. (2004 est.) _7 foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, miscellaneous manufactured goods, fuel _8 Australia 33%, Fiji 27.1%, Japan 18.1%, NZ 6.9% (2005) _9 $10 million (1999 est.) _: $16.7 million largely from UK and Japan (2004) _; Australian dollar (AUD) _< Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3285 (2006), 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002) _= NA 
]& _> 4,500 (2002) _? 600 (2004) _@ `G generally good quality national and international service `H wire line service available on Tarawa and Kiritimati (Christmas Island); connections to outer islands by HF/VHF radiotelephone; wireless service available in Tarawa since 1999 `I 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) _A AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (may be inactive) (2002) _B 1 (possibly inactive) (2002) _C .ki _D 42 (2006) _E 2,000 (2004) 
]' _F 19 (2006) _G `! 3 `b 3 (2006) _R `! 16 `b 1 `c 11 `W 4 (2006) _H `! 670 km (1999) _b 5 km (small network of canals in Line Islands) (2003) _S `! 2 ships (1000 GRT or over) 2,749 GRT/3,911 DWT by type: cargo 1, passenger/cargo 1 `X 1 (UAE 1) (2006) _I Betio 
]( _J no regular military forces; Police Force (carries out law enforcement functions and paramilitary duties; small police posts are on all islands) (2007) _K males age 18-49: 21,938 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 14,231 (2005 est.) _L males age 18-49: 1,128 (2005 est.) _U NA _M Kiribati does not have military forces; defense assistance is provided by Australia and NZ 
]) _N none 