| Location | Oceania, group of 32 coral atolls and one raised coral island in the Pacific Ocean, straddling the Equator; the capital Tarawa is about halfway between Hawaii and Australia |
| Geographic coordinates | 1 25 N, 173 00 E |
| Map references | Oceania |
| Area | total: 811 sq km land: 811 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, and Phoenix Islands - dispersed over about 3.5 million sq km (1.35 million sq mi) |
| Area - comparative | four times the size of Washington, DC |
| Land boundaries | total: 0 km |
| Coastline | 1,143 km |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
| Climate | tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds |
| Terrain | mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: unnamed elevation on Banaba 81 m m lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m mean elevation: 2 m |
| Natural resources | phosphate (production discontinued in 1979), coconuts (copra), fish |
| Land use | agricultural land: 42% (2018 est.) arable land: 2.5% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 39.5% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 0% (2018 est.) forest: 15% (2018 est.) other: 43% (2018 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 0 sq km (2012) |
| Total renewable water resources | 0 cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Natural hazards | typhoons can occur any time, but usually November to March; occasional tornadoes; low level of some of the islands make them sensitive to changes in sea level |
| Geography - note | 21 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; Kiribati is the only country in the world to fall into all four hemispheres (northern, southern, eastern, and western) |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
