Pacific Islands News Association

Business News : New US$10 million boost for Sustainable fishing and new jobs in Solomon Islands [15/08/2018 - Solomon Islands]
News : Fiji Court stops removal of Grace Road officials [15/08/2018 - Fiji]
Sports News : Social media campaign worries Samoa rugby Union [15/08/2018 - Samoa]
Sports News : Vanuatu's women win twice on home soil as Hockey Series begins in Port Vila [15/08/2018 - Vanuatu]
News Feature : Nominations open for 2019 Commonwealth Young Person of the Year [15/08/2018 - United Kingdom]
Business News : ANZ opens new world class branch in Kiribati [15/08/2018 - Kiribati]
News : Address debt at leadership level:NZ foreign minister Peters [15/08/2018 - Samoa]
News : Samoa visa free travel up for discussion: Peters [15/08/2018 - Samoa]
News : Papua New Guinea has opportunities in carbon capture says ecologist Tim Flannery [15/08/2018 - Papua New Guinea]
News Feature : Counting down to the second Clean Pacific Roundtable [15/08/2018 - Fiji]
Business News : Indicators show a slowdown in PNG economic activity: BSP Bank [15/08/2018 - Papua New Guinea]
Business News : Agencies explore workable single window system customised for Fiji [15/08/2018 - Fiji]
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Country profile - Kiribati

Kiribati flag

The 33 atolls that make up Kiribati - the former Gilbert Islands - occupy a vast area in the Pacific. They stretch nearly 4,000 km from east to west, more than 2,000 km from north to south, and straddle the Equator.

The country won independence from the United Kingdom in 1979. Many of the atolls are inhabited; most of them are very low-lying and at risk from rising sea levels.

Kiribati used to lie either side of the International Date Line, but the government unilaterally moved the line eastwards in 1995 to ensure the day was the same in the whole country.

This was a shrewd move as Kiribati marketed itself as the first inhabited place on Earth to greet the new millennium on 1 January 2000. The world's media descended on Caroline Island, renamed Millennium Island, to record the event.

Kiribati's economy is weak and is affected by rises and falls in the world demand for coconut.

Fishing licences, foreign aid and money sent home by workers abroad also play their part, as does a trust fund set up with revenues from phosphate mining on the island of Banaba. The mines were depleted by 1980, precipitating the evacuation of much of the population.
Kiribati is home to the South Pacific's largest marine reserve.

Additional information