Location: Oceania, Micronesia, straddling the equator in the Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and 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; subject to occasional tornadoes
international agreements: party to - 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

NOTE: The information regarding Kiribati on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Kiribati Geography 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Kiribati Geography 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.