Republic of Kiribati

President: Anote Tong (2003)

Total area: 313 sq mi (811 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 105,432 (growth rate: 2.2%); birth rate: 30.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 47.3/1000; life expectancy: 62.1; density per sq mi: 381

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Tarawa, 26,600

Monetary unit: Australian dollar

Languages: English (official), I-Kiribati (Gilbertese)

Ethnicity/race: Micronesian 98.8%, other 1.2%

Religions: Roman Catholic 52%, Protestant (Congregational) 40%, some Seventh-Day Adventist, Muslim, Baha'i, Latter-day Saints, and Church of God (1999)

Literacy rate: n.a.

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2001 est.): $79 million, supplemented by a nearly equal amount from external sources; per capita $800. Real growth rate: 1.5%. Inflation: 2.5%. Unemployment: 2%; under-employment 70% (1992 est.). Arable land: 3%. Agriculture: copra, taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, vegetables; fish. Labor force: 7,870 economically active, not including subsistence farmers (2001 est.). Industries: fishing, handicrafts. Natural resources: phosphate (production discontinued in 1979). Exports: $17 million f.o.b. (2004 est.): copra 62%, coconuts, seaweed, fish. Imports: $62 million c.i.f. (2004): foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, miscellaneous manufactured goods, fuel. Major trading partners: France, Japan, U.S., Thailand, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand (2004).

Member of Commonwealth of Nations

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 3,800 (1999); mobile cellular: n.a. Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 1; note: the FM and shortwave stations may be inactive (2002). Radios: 17,000 (1997). Television broadcast stations: 1 (not reported to be active) (2002). Televisions: 1,000 (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000). Internet users: 1,000 (2000).

Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 670 km (1999 est.); paved: n.a.; unpaved: n.a. Waterways: small network of canals, totaling 5 km, in Line Islands. Ports and harbors: Banaba, Betio, English Harbor, Kanton. Airports: 20 (2002).

International disputes: none.


 

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