In 1979 Kiribati gained independence and joined the Commonwealth of Nations as its 41st nation. 🌍
It is situated in Oceana and has a total land area of 811 square kilometers, dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometers of the central Pacific Ocean.
The Line Islands 🏝️, Phoenix Islands, and the Gilbert Islands comprise its three archipelagos.
Fascinating Kiribati Facts To Discover the Enchanting Secrets of This Island Paradise
Only one nation can be found in all four hemispheres of the globe.
The nation is located along the Prime Meridian of the planet 🌎, where it occupies the eastern and western hemispheres, and straddling the equator, where it occupies both the northern and southern hemispheres.
On either side of the International Date Line, the country’s eastern and western islands had a 23-hour time difference.
To ensure that every part of the nation has the same working day, they shifted the dateline and lowered the time difference to two hours in 1995 ⏰.
The island has just one main road.
One hundred eleven thousand seven hundred ninety-six people call Kiribati home (as of July 2020 estimates), but the nation’s capital, Tarawa Island, only has one main road.
Since more than half of the population resides here, they rely only on the South Tarawa Road, a 36-kilometer route connecting Tarawa’s international airport to its ports in the west.
There are no other options for getting residents access to the government, healthcare, and other services they might require 🏢.
Kiribati is pronounced as Kiribati.
The name of the nation is pronounced “Kiribas” or “kee-ree-bass,” with the sound “ti” sounding like an “s.”
This is how people in this area pronounce “Gilbert.” 🗣️ Previously, the nation was known as the Gilbert Islands.
It bears the name Thomas Gilbert after the British commander first saw the island in 1788 🏝️. I-Kiribati, pronounced “ee-Kiribati,” refers to a citizen of Kiribati.
There is a threat that the entire nation could go underwater.
In the low-lying nation of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean 🌊, the threat posed by climate change is all too real. Its terrain is mainly flat.
In Tarawa, most of the population resides; the highest point is only three meters above sea level.
The sea is predicted to eventually encircle the entire nation, given the average annual rate of sea level rise.
There are 32 atolls and one elevated coral island in Kiribati.
It’s important to note that Kiribati comprises 33 islands, and 32 atolls, with the remaining one, Banaba Island, being an elevated coral island 🏝️. An atoll is a coral island in a ring with a central lagoon.
The Gilbert Islands have 16 atolls, compared to the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands’ eight apiece. There are only 21 inhabited islands.
Kiribati’s whole population may move to Fiji in the future.
The nation finished paying for the 20 square kilometers of land in Vanua Levu, one of the Fijian islands 🏝️, in 2014. If Kiribati becomes uninhabitable in the future, its residents will relocate to Fiji, which is 2,000 kilometers distant.
Should that day come, the I-Kiribati would be welcome to make Fiji their permanent home 🏠, according to the Fijian Prime Minister.
The island of Kiritimati is a sanctuary for birds.
The Northern Line Island of Kiritimati (ki-ris-mas) is thought to be the largest atoll in the Pacific. It is a seabird refuge and breeding area, a fantastic location for bird viewing 🐦.
Eighteen bird species may be found on the island, including the rare Christmas Island Warbler, the Bokikokiko, and the critically endangered Phoenix Petrel and White Throated Storm Petrel.
Kiribati is still home to World War II artifacts.
Controlling the island directly amid the Pacific Ocean during the battle is advantageous. As a result, the Americans, as well as the Japanese, invaded Tarawa Island.
The Battle of Tarawa then took place. Several artifacts can still be found here as a legacy of that conflict.
These include rusty tanks, substantial concrete bunkers, pillboxes, coastal defense cannons, amtracs, or amphibious tracked vehicles 🚁.
The PIPA World Heritage Site is the largest and deepest worldwide.
Eight atolls and two underwater reefs make up the 408,250 sq. km. Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA). The depth of this area of the ocean 🌊, which ranges from 4,500 to 6,000 meters, has 30 significant submerged volcanoes.
There are 800 kinds of animals in this protected area, including 500 fish species, 44 bird species, 18 marine mammal species, and 200 coral species.
An intriguing Kiribati fact is that it was named the largest and deepest UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010 🌎.
Nuclear weapons tests were conducted in the 1950s in Kiritimati and Malden.
Beginning in 1957, two atolls of the Line Islands were used as locations for nuclear weapon testing ☢️. No one who was residing here at the time was evacuated.
The United States, the United Kingdom, and others collectively carried out 33 nuclear explosions 🌋. It wasn’t until 1963 that atomic testing was outlawed in the atmosphere, space, and under the sea.
Banaba Island is almost uninhabitable due to eight decades of mining.
The small island of Banaba is a rich source of high-grade phosphate rock that can be used to make fertilizers for crops.
The Pacific Phosphate Company and a coalition of the British, New Zealand, and Australian governments began extensive strip mining operations in 1900.
When the minerals were exhausted and 90% of the island’s surface had been taken away, mining only ceased in 1979.
As a result, the island needs to be more suitable for food production, rendering it uninhabitable 😢. There were just a few hundred inhabitants left on the island 🏝️.
The freshwater supply in Kiribati needs to be improved.
The inhabitants of Kiribati struggle to access fresh water despite being surrounded by water 💧. The South Tarawa Water Supply Project, which would give people access to a reliable and clean water supply, received World Bank approval for $15 million in financing in December 2019. 💧
Kiribati is a beautiful nation with marine protected areas and animal sanctuaries.
They were able to preserve the wonder and beauty of the site due to its relative solitude in the middle of the Pacific Ocean 🐠.
Kiribati has established marine protected areas and animal sanctuaries to conserve its unique marine ecosystem and protect endangered species 🌊.
Kiribati’s state of operation
Only four out of ten persons in Kiribati are employed. With 75% of the labor force employed in service-related jobs outside the state sector, formal employment is uncommon.
As a substitute, some individuals usually engage in unpaid subsistence occupations like agriculture.
Even though there are only 4,000 jobs on the island, some guys decide to become sailors. In addition, women are more likely to work in small-town trades and handicrafts in Africa than males 👨🌾.
Kiribati’s national tuberculosis program
According to reports, Australia gave Kiribati $27.7 million in official development aid between 2017 and 2018 🌡️. The National Tuberculosis Programme of the Kiribatian government received about 3.6 million dollars.
In addition, 412 Kiribati workers received temporary job help from the Australian government through labor mobility programs.
In this article, we have read about the fourteen facts about Kiribati. To learn more, follow this website. You are likely familiar with Kenya’s appearance even if you have never visited there.
The savanna of Kenya has appeared in numerous films, TV series, novels, and advertisements. Most people have an image of Africa’s landscape in their minds.
A flat coastal plain on the Indian Ocean gives way to highlands and plateaus in the country’s middle 🌍.
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