My World Factbook
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Note: Most information adapted from the popular World Factbook is distributed between the websites GeoWorld (geography, people, communications & transportation), Politix (government) and Great Depression II (economy).
Geography
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 was in the same time zone as its Gilbert Islands group (UTC +12) even though the Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands under its jurisdiction were on the other side of the International Date Line
1 25 N, 173 00 E
Area: 

total: 811 sq km
country comparison to the world: land: 811 sq km
water: 0 sq km
note: includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands
four times the size of Washington, DC
0 km
1,143 km
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Current Weather
tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds
mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed elevation on Banaba 81 m
phosphate (production discontinued in 1979)
arable land: 2.74%
permanent crops: 47.95%
other: 49.31% (2005)
NA
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
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
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
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
