| Geography | Kiribati |
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Location:
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Oceania, group of 33 coral atolls in the Pacific Ocean, straddling the Equator; the capital Tarawa is about half way between Hawaii and 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 |
Geographic coordinates:
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1 25 N, 173 00 E |
Map references:
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Oceania |
Area:
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total: 811 sq km
land: 811 sq km
water: 0 sq km
note: includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands |
Area - comparative:
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four times the size of Washington, DC |
Land boundaries:
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0 km |
Coastline:
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1,143 km |
Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Climate:
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tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds |
Terrain:
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mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs |
Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Banaba 81 m |
Natural resources:
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phosphate (production discontinued in 1979) |
Land use:
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arable land: 2.74%
permanent crops: 47.95%
other: 49.31% (2005) |
Irrigated land:
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NA |
Total renewable water resources:
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void |
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
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void |
Natural hazards:
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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 |
Environment - current issues:
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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 |
Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Geography - note:
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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 |
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