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: Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial 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: arable land NEGL%; permanent crops 51%; meadows and pastures 0%; forest and woodland 3%; other 46%

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

Note: 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 1991 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Kiribati Geography 1991 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Kiribati Geography 1991 should be addressed to the CIA.