Country Name: Kiribati (Republic of Kiribati)

Capital: Tarawa

Government Type: presidential republic

Background: Kiribati is made up of three distinct island groups - the Gilbert Islands, the Line Islands, and the Phoenix Islands. The first Austronesian voyagers arrived in the Gilbert Islands as early as 3000 B.C., but these islands were not widely settled until about A.D. 200 by Micronesians. Around 1300, Samoans and Tongans invaded the southern Gilbert Islands, then known as Tungaru, bringing Polynesian cultural elements with them. Later arrivals by Fijians brought Melanesian elements to the Gilbert Islands, and extensive intermarriage between the Micronesian, Polynesian, and Melanesian people led to the creation of what would become Gilbertese cultural traditions by the time Europeans spotted the islands in the 1600s. The Phoenix Islands and Line Islands were both visited by various Melanesian and Polynesian peoples, but their isolation and lack of natural resources meant that long-term settlements were not possible and both island groups were uninhabited by the time of European contact.

Kiribati experienced sustained European contact by the 1760s; all three island groups were named and charted by 1826. American whaling ships frequently passed through the islands, and the UK declared a protectorate over the Gilbert and nearby Ellice Islands in 1892 to block growing US influence. Phosphate-rich Banaba Island was annexed to the protectorate in 1900. In 1916, the protectorate became a colony, and some Line Islands were added in 1916 and 1919 with the final ones added in 1972. The Phoenix Islands were added to the colony in 1937, and the UK agreed to share jurisdiction of some of them with the US because of their strategic location for aviation. Japan occupied the northern Gilbert Islands in 1941; the islands of Makin and Tarawa were the sites of major US amphibious victories over entrenched Japanese garrisons in 1943. The UK continued to rule the colony after World War II. The Ellice Islands became its own colony in 1974 and renamed Tuvalu for “eight standing together” in 1975. The Gilbert Islands became fully self-governing in 1977 and independent in 1979 as Kiribati, the Gilbertese spelling of Gilberts. The US relinquished all claims to the sparsely inhabited Phoenix and Line Islands in a 1979 treaty of friendship.

In 1994, Kiribati adjusted the international date line to the east of the Line Islands, bringing all islands in the country to the same day and giving Kiribati the earliest time zone in the world. Kiribati is a leading climate change advocate. In 2012, Kiribati purchased a 22 sq km (8.5 sq mi) plot of land in Fiji for potential eventual resettlement of its population because of climate change.

Continent: Oceania

Population: 115,372 (2023 est.)

Ethnic Groups: I-Kiribati 95.78%, I-Kiribati/mixed 3.8%, Tuvaluan 0.2%, other 1.7% (2020 est.)

Languages: Gilbertese, English (official)

Religions: Roman Catholic 58.9%, Kiribati Uniting Church 21.2%, Kiribati Protestant Church 8.4%, Church of Jesus Christ 5.6%, Seventh Day Adventist 2.1%, Baha'i 2.1%, other 1.7% (2020 est.)

Economic Overview: lower-middle income, Pacific island economy; environmentally fragile; sizable remittances; key phosphate mining fund; tourism and fishing industries; public sector-dominated economy; recent withdrawal from Pacific Islands Forum; ongoing constitutional crisis

Currency: Australian Dollar (AUD)

Reserves of Foreign Exchange & Gold: $8.37 million (31 December 2010 est.)

Real GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $262.821 million (2022 est.) note: data in 2017 dollars

Real GDP Growth Rate: 1.56% (2022 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency

Real GDP per Capita: $2,000 (2022 est.) note: data in 2017 dollars

Exports: 

• $19.677 million (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars

• Comparison Ranking: 217

Export Commodities: skipjacks, tuna, fish fillets, ships, coconut oil, copra (2021)

Export Partners: Thailand 60%, Indonesia 11%, Philippines 10%, Japan 6%, South Korea 3% (2021)

Imports: 

• $254.438 million (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars

• Comparison Ranking: 209

Import Commodities: fishing ships, beef, netting, poultry meat, rice, refined petroleum, sugar, refrigerators (2021)

Import Partners: China 23%, Taiwan 16%, Fiji 16%, Australia 12%, New Zealand 6% (2021)

Natural Resources: phosphate (production discontinued in 1979), coconuts (copra), fish

Agricultural Products: coconuts, roots/tubers, bananas, vegetables, taro, tropical fruit, poultry, pork, nuts, eggs

Industries: fishing, handicrafts

Industrial Production Growth Rate: 

• 21.11% (2021 est.) note: annual % change in industrial value added based on constant local currency

• Comparison Ranking: 6

Labor Force: 39,000 (2010 est.) note: economically active, not including subsistence farmers

Unemployment Rate: 30.6% (2010 est.)

Natural Hazards: typhoons can occur any time, but usually November to March; occasional tornadoes; low level of some of the islands make them sensitive to changes in sea level

Geography:

• Total: 811 sq km

• Land: 811 sq km

• Water: 0 sq km

(Country Summary, The World Factbook, CIA.gov)

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