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    Kiribati Geography - 2004

    https://immigration-usa.com/wfb2004/kiribati/kiribati_geography.html
    SOURCE: 2004 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK

      Location:
      Oceania, group of 33 coral atolls in the Pacific Ocean, straddling the equator; the capital Tarawa is about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia; note - on 1 January 1995, Kiribati proclaimed that all of its territory lies in the same time zone as its Gilbert Islands group (GMT +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:
      1 25 N, 173 00 E

      Map references:
      Oceania

      Area:
      total: 811 sq km
      note: includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands
      water: 0 sq km
      land: 811 sq km

      Area - comparative:
      four times the size of Washington, DC

      Land boundaries:
      0 km

      Coastline:
      1,143 km

      Maritime claims - as described in UNCLOS 1982 (see Notes and Definitions):
      territorial sea: 12 NM
      exclusive economic zone: 200 NM

      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

      Natural resources:
      phosphate (production discontinued in 1979)

      Land use:
      arable land: 0%
      permanent crops: 50.68%
      other: 49.32% (1998 est.)

      Irrigated land:
      NA sq km

      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 changes in sea level

      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, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection
      signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

      Geography - note:
      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


      NOTE: The information regarding Kiribati on this page is re-published from the 2004 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Kiribati Geography 2004 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Kiribati Geography 2004 should be addressed to the CIA.

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    https://immigration-usa.com/wfb2004/kiribati/kiribati_geography.html
    Revised 21-May-04
    Copyright © 2021 Photius Coutsoukis (all rights reserved)