HISTORYBritish protectorate in 1892 and a Crown Colony in 1915 , partly occupied by the Japanese in 1942 and recaptured by the Americans in 1943 after the battles of Makin ( November 10 ) and Tarawa ( November 21 ), the two archipelagos Gilbert and Ellice decided to form two separate states in 1975. Kiribati is a parliamentary democracy , the president is elected by popular vote among the four candidates chosen by Parliament (41 members, 39 are elected ) .
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GEOGRAPHYKiribati consists of three islands formed from coral atolls widely scattered: the Gilbert Islands (16 atolls), the three islands of the Line or Line Islands (Kiritimati, and Tabuaeran Teraina) and Phoenix Islands (12 atolls) and the 'Ocean island of elevated (or Banaba). The people are spread over 900 km2 of land area: scattered over a sea area of about 3.5 million km2, they stretch over nearly 4000 km from west to east, from both sides the equator, between 4 ° N and 3 ° S. The climate is hot and humid, but the Phoenix Islands and part of the Gilbert Islands sometimes face formidable droughts.
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ECONOMYKiribati has few natural resources other than fisheries resources. Commercially workable phosphate deposits were exhausted at the time of independence. Copra and fish now represent the bulk of production and exports (including in the form of aquarium fish).
Economic development is severely limited by the lack of natural resources, skilled workers (with the exception of mariners), weak infrastructure and remoteness from international markets. International airlines have become problematic on Kiribati Island. Tourism provides more than one fifth of GDP but remains fairly limited, mainly because of the difficult air transport. Fishing rights paid by the European Union, South Korea and now by Taiwan which represent the bulk of revenue.Most have Gilbertines subsistence activities (fishing, growing vegetables and fruit) that improve their daily lives. |