Total area: 717 km2
land area: 717 km2
includes three island groups--Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands

Comparative area: slightly more than four times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries: none

Coastline: 1,143 km

Maritime claims: @m5Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
@m5Territorial sea: 12 nm

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: NEGL% arable land; 51% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 3% forest and woodland; 46% other

Environment: typhoons can occur any time, but usually November to March; 20 of the 33 islands are inhabited

Note: Banaba or Ocean Island is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific (the others are Makatea in French Polynesia and Nauru)

NOTE: The information regarding Kiribati on this page is re-published from the 1989 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Kiribati Geography 1989 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Kiribati Geography 1989 should be addressed to the CIA.