Kiribati (KEE-RAH-BAHS), officially the Republic of Kiribati (342 sq mi/886 sq km; 1990 population 72,335; 2004 estimated population 100,798), consists of thirty-three islands scattered across 2,400 sq mi/3,800 sq km of the Pacific Ocean astride the equator; (cap.) Tarawa; 05°00'S 170°00'W.
Geography
It includes eight of the eleven Line Islands, including Kiritimati (formerly Christmas Island), as well as the Gilbert and Phoenix groups and Banaba Island (one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific).
Population
The population is nearly all Micronesian, with about 30% concentrated on Tarawa. Overcrowding has been a problem, and in 1988 it was announced that 4,700 residents of the main island group would be resettled in less populated islands. Languages spoken are English (official) and Gilbertese, a Micronesian dialect.
Economy
Fishing and the growing of taro and bananas form the basis of the mainly subsistence economy. Fish and copra became the chief exports after the mining of Banaba’s once thick phosphate deposits ended in 1979.
History
The islands were administered (1892–1916) with the Gilbert Islands as a British protectorate that became (1916) the British Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony. They gained self-rule in 1971, and, after the Ellice Islands gained (1978) independence as Tuvalu, the remaining islands were granted independence (1979) as Kiribati. A Commonwealth member, the nation is a republic with a president, a cabinet, and a unicameral legislature. U.S. claims to several islands, including Kanton (formerly Canton) and Enderbury, were abandoned in 1979.
Government
Since July 2003, the chief of state has been President Anote Tong. He is also head of government.
