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Kiribati

Republic of Kiribati

Geography
Area: 719 sq. km (266 sq. mi.) on 32 atolls and one island.
Cities: Capital--Tarawa (pop. 30,000).
Terrain: Archipelagos of low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs.
Climate: Maritime equatorial or tropical.

People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--I-Kiribati (for both singular and plural, pronounced "ee-keer-ah-bhass").
Population (2006): 92,533. Age structure (2004)--38% under 14; 4% over 65.
Population growth rate: 2.25%.
Ethnic groups: Micronesian 99%.
Religion: Roman Catholic 55%, Kiribati Protestant 36%, other 9%.
Languages: English (official), Gilbertese/I-Kiribati (de facto).
Health (2004): Life expectancy--male 60 yrs., female 66 yrs. Infant mortality rate (2004)--49/1,000.
Work force: Majority engaged in subsistence activities.

Government
Type: Republic.
Independence (from United Kingdom): July 12, 1979.
Constitution: July 12, 1979.
Branches: Executive--president (head of state and government), vice president, cabinet. Legislative--unicameral House of Assembly. Judicial--High Court, Court of Appeal, magistrates' courts.
Major political parties: Parties are only very loosely organized--Boutokanto Koaava (Pillars of Truth), Maneaban Te Mauri (Protect the Maneaba), Maurin Kiribati Pati.

Economy (all figures in U.S. $)
GDP (2006, estimate): $64 million.
GDP per capita (2006): $673.
GDP composition by sector: Services 75%, agriculture 14%, industry 11%.
Industry: Types--tourism, copra, fish.
Trade (2005): Exports--$4.32 million: copra, pet fish, seaweed, shark fins. Export markets--Japan, Thailand, South Korea, United States, Australia, Germany, Belgium, Denmark. Imports--$78.2 million: food, manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment. Import sources--Australia, Fiji, Japan, France, New Zealand, United States, Korea, China, Thailand.
Currency: Australian dollar (A$).

GEOGRAPHY AND PEOPLE
Kiribati (pronounced "keer-ah-bhass") consists of 32 low-lying atolls and one raised island scattered over an expanse of ocean equivalent in size to the continental United States. The islands straddle the Equator and lie roughly halfway between Hawaii and Australia. The three main groupings are the Gilbert Islands, Phoenix Islands, and Line Islands. In 1995 Kiribati unilaterally moved the International Date Line to include its easternmost islands, making it the same day throughout the country.

Kiribati includes Kiritimati (Christmas Island), the largest coral atoll in the world, and Banaba (Ocean Island), one of the three great phosphate islands in the Pacific. Except on Banaba, very little land is more than three meters above sea level.

The original inhabitants of Kiribati are Gilbertese, a Micronesian people. Approximately 90% of the population of Kiribati lives on the atolls of the Gilbert Islands. Although the Line Islands are about 2,000 miles east of the Gilbert Islands, most inhabitants of the Line Islands are also Gilbertese. Owing to severe overcrowding in the capital on South Tarawa, in the 1990s a program of directed migration moved nearly 5,000 inhabitants to outlying atolls, mainly in the Line Islands. The Phoenix Islands have never had any significant permanent population. A British effort to settle Gilbertese there in the 1930s lasted until the 1960s when it was determined the inhabitants could not be self-sustaining.

HISTORY
The I-Kiribati people settled what would become known as the Gilbert Islands between 1000 and 1300 AD. Subsequent invasions by Fijians and Tongans introduced Melanesian and Polynesian elements to the Micronesian culture, but extensive intermarriage has produced a population reasonably homogeneous in appearance and traditions.

European contact began in the 16th century. Whalers, slave traders, and merchant vessels arrived in great numbers in the 1800s, fomenting local tribal conflicts and introducing often-fatal European diseases. In an effort to restore a measure of order, the Gilbert and Ellice Islands (the Ellice Islands are now the independent country of Tuvalu) consented to becoming British protectorates in 1892. Banaba (Ocean Island) was annexed in 1900 after the discovery of phosphate-rich guano deposits, and the entire group was made a British colony in 1916. The Line and Phoenix Islands were incorporated piecemeal over the next 20 years.

Japan seized some of the islands during World War II. In November 1943, U.S. forces assaulted heavily fortified Japanese positions on Tarawa Atoll in the Gilberts, resulting in some of the bloodiest fighting of the Pacific campaign. The battle was a turning point for the war in the Central Pacific.

Britain began expanding self-government in the islands during the 1960s. In 1975 the Ellice Islands separated from the colony and in 1978 declared their independence. The Gilberts obtained internal self-government in 1977, and became an independent nation on July 12, 1979, under the name of Kiribati.

Post-independence politics were initially dominated by Ieremia Tabai, Kiribati's first President, who served from 1979 to 1991, stepping down due to Kiribati's three-term limit for presidents. The tenure of Teburoro Tito, Kiribati's second-longest serving President, was from 1994 to 2003. His third term lasted only a matter of months before he lost a no confidence motion in Parliament. (See the next section for an explanation of Kiribati's unique presidential system.) In July 2003, Anote Tong defeated his elder brother, Harry Tong, who was backed by former President Tito and his allies. An ensuing court challenge, which alleged violations of campaign finance laws, could have unseated President Tong. However, in October 2003, a judge specially brought in from Australia to ensure strict neutrality ruled in President Tong's favor.

GOVERNMENT
The constitution promulgated at independence establishes Kiribati as a sovereign democratic republic and guarantees the fundamental rights of its citizens.

The unicameral House of Assembly (Maneaba) has 42 members: 40 elected representatives, one appointed member by the Banaban community on Rabi Island in Fiji, and the Attorney General on an ex officio basis. All of the members of the Maneaba serve 4-year terms. The speaker for the legislature is elected by the Maneaba from outside of its membership and is not a voting member of Parliament.

After each general election, the new Maneaba nominates at least three but not more than four of its members to stand as candidates for president. The voting public then elects the president from among these candidates. The president appoints a cabinet of up to 10 members from among the members of the Maneaba. Although popularly elected, the president can be deposed by a majority vote in Parliament. If a no confidence motion passes, a new election for President must be held. An individual can serve as president for only three terms, no matter how short each term is. As a result of this provision, former Presidents Tabai and Tito are constitutionally forbidden from serving as president again.

The judicial system consists of the High Court, a court of appeal, and magistrates' courts. The president makes all judicial appointments.

Kiribati