GEOGRAPHY
Capital:
Tarawa.
Terrain: Archipelago of low-lying coral atolls surrounded
by extensive reefs.
Climate: Hot and humid, moderated by trade winds.
Location:
Oceania, group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, straddling the
equator and the International Date Line, about one-half of the
way from Hawaii to Australia
Map
references: Oceania
Area:
total
area: 717 sq km land
area: 717 sq km comparative
area: slightly more than four times the size of Washington,
DC note:
includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands,
Phoenix Islands
Land
boundaries: 0 km
Coastline:
1,143 km
Maritime
claims: exclusive
economic zone: 200 nm territorial
sea: 12 nm
International
disputes: none
Climate:
tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds
Terrain:
mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs
Natural
resources: phosphate (production discontinued in 1979)
Land
use: arable
land: 0% permanent
crops: 51% meadows
and pastures: 0%
forest
and woodland: 3% other:
46%
Irrigated
land: NA sq km
Environment:
current
issues: NA natural
hazards: typhoons can occur any time, but usually November
to March; occasional tornadoes international
agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Endangered Species, Marine
Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified - Climate
Change
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
