Kiribati

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Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. It comprises 33 atolls dispersed over 1,351,000 square miles (3,500,000 km²) close to the equator. The name Kiribati is pronounced ['kiribas] and is the Kiribati rendering of "Gilberts", derived from the English name for the main group of islands: the former Gilbert Islands. Because the written native language lacks the letter 's', the sound is rendered as 'ti.' Likewise, the Pacific island known as Christmas Island (not to be confused with the Australian-administered island of that name in the Indian Ocean) is known in the Kiribati language as Kiritimati Island.

Contents 1 Politics 2 Administrative divisions 3 Foreign Relations 4 Geography 5 Economy 5.1 Balance of Payments 6 Demographics 7 Human Rights 8 Human Development 9 Culture 9.1 Music 9.2 Dance 9.3 Outside Perspectives 10 Miscellaneous topics 11 References 12 External links

[edit] Politics

Main article: Politics of Kiribati

The Kiribati Constitution, promulgated July 12, 1979, provides for free and open elections. The executive branch consists of a president, a vice president and a cabinet. Under the constitution, the president, nominated from among the elected legislators, is limited to three four-year terms. The president does not represent a political party. The cabinet is composed of the president, vice president, and 10 ministers (appointed by the president) who are members of the House of Assembly.

The legislative branch is the unicameral "Maneaba Ni Maungatabu" (House of Assembly). It has elected members, including by constitutional mandate a representative of the Banaban people (Ocean Islanders), in addition to the attorney general, who serves as an ex-officio member. Legislators serve for a four-year term.

The constitutional provisions governing administration of justice are similar to those in other former British possessions in that the judiciary is free from governmental interference. The judicial branch is made up of the High Court and the Court of Appeal. The president appoints the presiding judges.

Local government is through island councils with elected members. Local affairs are handled in a manner similar to town meetings in colonial America. Island councils make their own estimates of revenue and expenditure and are generally free from central government controls.

Traditionally, Kiribati has not had formal political parties. Instead, ad hoc opposition groups tended to coalesce around specific issues. Today, the only recognizable parties are the Maneaban te Mauri Party and the National Progressive Party. There is universal suffrage at age 18.^[1]

[edit] Administrative divisions

Main article: Districts of Kiribati

Kiribati was formally divided into districts until its independence. The country is now divided into three island groups which have no administrative function, including a group that unites the Line and the Phoenix islands (ministry at London, Christmas). Each inhabited island has its own council (3 councils on Tarawa: Betio, South-Tarawa, North-Tarawa; 2 councils on Tabiteuea). The original districts used to be:

• Banaba
• Central Gilberts
• Line Islands
• Northern Gilberts
• Southern Gilberts
• Tarawa Atoll

The island groups include:

• Gilbert Islands
• Phoenix Islands
• Line Islands

Four of the former districts (including Tarawa) lie in the Gilbert Islands, where most of the country's population lives. Only three of the Line Islands are inhabited. The Phoenix Islands are uninhabited except for Kanton, and have no representation. Banaba itself is sparsely inhabited now. There is also a non-elected representative of the Banabans on Rabi Island in the nation of Fiji. Each of the 21 inhabited islands has a local council that takes care of the daily affairs. Tarawa Atoll has three councils: Betio Town Council, Te Inainano Urban Council (for the rest of South Tarawa) and Eutan Tarawa Council (for North Tarawa).

[edit] Foreign Relations

General Relations

Kiribati was admitted as the 186th member of the United Nations in September 1999.

Regional Relations

Kiribati maintains cordial relations with most countries and has close relations with its Pacific neighbors, Japan, Australia and New Zealand; the latter three provide the majority of the country's foreign aid. Taiwan and Japan also have specified-period licenses to fish in Kiribati's waters.

In November 1999, it was announced that Japan's National Space Development Agency' plans to lease land on Kiritimati (Christmas Island) for 20 years on which to build a spaceport. Japan will pay $840,000 per year and will also pay for any damage to roads and the environment. The site is designated as the landing strip for a drone shuttle called HOPE-X and may possibly also serve as a launch pad for satellites.^{[citation needed]}

The Politics of the Environment

In 2002, the major international issues facing many Pacific island states involved environmental challenges -- a consequence of global warming, according to several scientific studies. In this regard, Kiribati, like other islands in the Pacific, will launch legal action against developed countries at international venues, such as the International Court of Justice, for polluting practices which make them most liable for global warming. Most Pacific island countries may be washed away in the future, as a consequence of global warming and the resulting rise in sea level. Meanwhile, they suffer from biodiversity depletion and a lack of freshwater sources. These serious challenges are also linked to global warming. The refusal of the United States and Australia to sign the Kyoto Protocol raises the level of alarm in the Pacific region.

But some point to the fact that Kiribati is a coral atoll, and as such is made of brittle coral, not rock. Coral can be broken up by storms. Coral Atolls are often perched on the slowly sinking stumps of old volcanoes which have been naturally sinking into the ocean for thousands of years. There is good reason to believe that Kiribati is sinking as part of a natural process.

See the wiki page on Atolls for an excellent animation showing how coral atolls are formed and how they sink.

[edit] Geography

Main article: Geography of Kiribati

Kiribati consists of about 32 atolls and one island (Banaba), with at least three in each hemisphere. The groups of islands are:

• Banaba: an isolated island between Nauru and the Gilbert Islands.
• Gilbert Islands: 16 atolls located some 930 miles (1,500 km) north of Fiji
• Phoenix Islands: 8 atolls and coral islands located some 1,100 miles (1,800 km) southeast of the Gilberts
• Line Islands: 8 atolls and one reef, located about 2,050 miles (3,300 km) east of the Gilberts.

Banaba (or Ocean Island) is a raised-coral island that was once a rich source of phosphates, but it was mostly mined out before independence. The rest of the land in Kiribati consists of the sand and reef rock islets of atolls or coral islands that rise but a few meters (at most 6.5 feet) above sea level. The soil is thin and calcareous, making agriculture very difficult. Kiritimati (Christmas Island) in the Line Islands is the world's largest atoll. Based on a 1995 realignment of the International Date Line, Kiribati is now the easternmost country in the world, and was the first country to enter into the year 2000 at Caroline Island, which, not coincidentally, has been renamed Millennium Island.^[2]

According to the South Pacific Regional Environment Program, two small uninhabited Kiribati islets, Tebua Tarawa and Abanuea, disappeared underwater in 1999. The islet of Tepuka Savilivili (Tuvalu; not a Gilbertese name) no longer has any coconut trees due to salination. [1] The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that sea levels will rise by about half a meter (20 in) by 2100 due to global warming and a further rise would be inevitable. It is thus likely that within a century the nation's arable land will become subject to increased soil salination and will be largely submerged.[2]

[edit] Economy

Main article: Economy of Kiribati

Kiribati has few natural resources. Commercially viable phosphate deposits were exhausted at the time of independence. Copra and fish now represent the bulk of production and exports. Tourism provides more than one-fifth of GDP.

Foreign financial aid, largely from the United Kingdom and Japan, is a critical supplement, equal in recent years to 25% to 50% of GDP. Agriculture accounts for 12.4% of GDP and 71% of labour; industry 0.9% of GDP and 1.9% of labour; trade 18.5% of GDP and 4.1% of labour; commercial trade 5.7% of GDP and 1.4% of labour; and service industries 5.7% of GDP and 1.4% of labour. The main export and import countries are Australia, USA, France, Japan, Hong Kong and Germany.

[edit] Balance of Payments

Kiribati's narrow export base and its enormous need for imports contribute to the country’s large deficit in the merchandise trade balance. However, the country has several sources of external income, including fishing license fees, investment income, seamen’s remittances, and external grants. These inflows are usually more than sufficient to finance the large trade deficit. As a result, Kiribati’s current account balance has been in surplus most of the time in the past decade. International reserves have remained at around US$300 million since 2001.

[edit] Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Kiribati

The total population of Kiribati totals about 90,000.

The native people of Kiribati are called "I-Kiribati." The word "Kiribati" is actually the local spelling of the word "Gilbert" and the original name of this British colony was the Gilbert Islands. In 1979 when independence was gained, the indigenous format of the name was adopted.

Ethnically, the Kiribati people are Micronesians, but recent archeological evidence indicates that Austronesians originally settled the islands thousands of years ago. Around the 14th century, Fijians and Tongans invaded the islands thus complicating the ethnic range, and there are also people of Polynesian ancestry further diversifying the ethnic typologies. Intermarriage among all ancestral groups, however, has led to a population reasonably homogeneous in appearance and traditions.

The people of Kiribati speak a Micronesian dialect called Gilbertese or I-Kiribati, however, English is the official language. English is not used very often outside the island capital of Tarawa. It is more likely that English is mixed in its use with Gilbertese. Older generations of I-Kiribati tend to use more complicated versions of Gilbertese.

Christianity is the major religion, having been introduced by missionaries in the 19th century. The population is predominantly Roman Catholic, although a substantial portion of the population is Congregationalist Protestant. Many other Protestant denominations, including more evangelical types, are also represented, and the Baha'i religion also exists in Kiribati.

[edit] Human Rights

Kiribati is a constitutional multiparty republic. The government of Kiribati works to respect the civil and human rights of its citizens. There are only a few areas in which problems remain, but the law provides effective means of addressing individual complaints. Some limits on the freedoms of press and speech, and a few incidences of extrajudicial communal justice have been reported. Overall, Kiribati has one of the more positive records of human rights in the world.

[edit] Human Development

The population of Kiribati has a life expectancy at birth of 60 years (57 for males, and 63 for females) and an infant mortality rate of 54 deaths per 1,000 live births.

The people of Kiribati mostly live in villages with populations between 50 and 3,000 on the outer islands. Most houses are made of materials obtained from coconut and pandanus trees. Frequent droughts hinder reliable large-scale agriculture, so the islanders have largely turned to the sea for livelihood. Most are outrigger sailors and fishers. Copra plantations serve as a second source of employment. In recent years, large numbers of citizens have moved to the more urban island capital of Tarawa.

To increase opportunities for the islanders, the government has placed greater emphasis on education. Primary education is free and compulsory for the first six years, now being extended to nine years. Mission schools are slowly being absorbed into the government primary school system. Higher education is expanding; students may seek technical, teacher or marine training, or study in other countries. To date, most choosing to do the latter have gone to Fiji.

[edit] Culture

Main article: Culture of Kiribati

Songs (te anene) and above all dances (te mwaie) are held in high regard.

[edit] Music

Kiribati folk music is generally based around chanting or other forms of vocalizing, accompanied by body percussion. Public performances in modern Kiribati are generally performed by a seated chorus, accompanied by a guitar. However, during formal performances of the standing dance (Te Kaimatoa) or the hip dance (Te Buki) a wooden box is used as a percussion instrument. This box is constructed so as to give a hollow and reverberating tone when struck simultaneosly by a chorus of men sitting around it. Traditional songs are often love-themed, but there are also competitive, religious, children's, patriotic, war and wedding songs^{[citation needed]}. There are also stick dances (which accompany legends and semi-historical stories^{[citation needed]}. These stick dances or 'tirere' (pronounced seerere) are only performed during major festivals.

See also: Music of Kiribati

[edit] Dance

The uniqueness of Kiribati when compared with other forms of pacific island dance is its emphasis on the outstretched arms of the dancer and the sudden birdlike movement of the head. The Frigate bird (Fregataminor) on the Kiribati flag refers to this bird-like style of Kiribati dancing. Most dances are in the standing or sitting position with movement limited and staggered. Smiling whilst dancing is generally considered vulgar within the context of Kiribati dancing. This is due to its origin of not being solely as a form of entertainment but as a form of storytelling and a display of the skill, beauty and endurance of the dancer.^[3]

See also: Dance in Kiribati

[edit] Outside Perspectives

J. Maarten Troost's autobiogriophical experiences in Kiribati are documented in his book The Sex Lives of Cannibals.

[edit] Miscellaneous topics

• Communications in Kiribati
• Foreign relations of Kiribati
• Military of Kiribati
• Transportation in Kiribati
• Kiribati Scout Association
• The Sex Lives of Cannibals

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Find more information on Kiribati by searching Wikipedia's sister projects
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	Source texts from Wikisource
	Images and media from Commons
	News stories from Wikinews
	Learning resources from Wikiversity

• Open Directory Project - Kiribati directory category
• Interactive maps of Kiribati
• Kiri Tours - A website dedicated to travel information about Kiribati.
• Kiribati Tourism - The Official Website of the Kiribati National Tourism Office.
• 2005 Census of Population and Housing — Provisional results of the 2005 census.
• Kiribati Olympic pins — Features olympic pins for the Kiribati Olympic team.
• Radio Tarawa Kiribati Online - National Radio of Kiribati (streaming in Ogg Vorbis)
• [3] - Olympiaz's Kiribati Photo Albums.
• The traditional canoe of Kiribati: A photo-essay by Tony Whincup
• The traditional dance of Kiribati: A photo-essay by Tony Whincup