Statistics
- Location
- Oceania, group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, straddling the equator, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia; note - on 1 January 1995, Kiribati unilaterally moved the International Date Line from the middle of the country to include its easternmost islands and make it the same day throughout the country
- Geographic coordinates
- 1°25′N 173°00′E / 1.417°N 173°E / 1.417; 173
- Map references
- Oceania
- Area
-
- Total: 771 km2 (298 sq mi)
- Land: 771 km2
- Water: none
- Note: includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands
- Land boundaries
- none
- Coastline
- 1,143 km (710 mi)
- Maritime claims
-
- Exclusive economic zone: 200 nmi (370 km; 230 mi)
- Territorial sea: 12 nmi (22 km; 14 mi)
- Climate
- Tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds
- Terrain
- Mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs
- Elevation extremes
-
- Lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
- Highest point: unnamed location on Banaba 81 m (266 ft)
- Natural resources
- Phosphate (production discontinued in 1979)
- Land use
-
- Arable land: 0%
- Permanent crops: 51%
- Permanent pastures: 0%
- Forests and woodland: 3%
- Other: 46% (1993 est.)
- Irrigated land
- NA
- Natural hazards
- Typhoons can occur any time, but usually November to March; occasional tornadoes; low-level of some of the islands make them very sensitive to sea-level rise
- Environment - current issues
- 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
-
- Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection
- Signed, but not ratified: None of the selected agreements
- Geography - note
- 20 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.
Read more about this topic: Geography Of Kiribati
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