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GEOGRAPHY OF KIRIBATI
Kiribati is located in 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. Its geographic coordinates are 1 25 N, 173 00 E. Twenty-one 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, 2023]
Area: total: 811 square kilometers; land: 811 square kilometers; water: 0 square kilometers. Includes three island groups: Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, and Phoenix Islands: dispersed over about 3.5 million square kilometers (1.35 million square mi); ranking compared to other countries in the world: 186. It is about four times the size of Washington, DC. [Source: CIA World Factbook 2023]
Land Boundaries: total: 0 kilometers; Coastline: 1,143 kilometers; Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nautical miles; exclusive economic zone: 200 nautical miles.
Topography: mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs. Elevation: highest point: unnamed elevation on Banaba 81 meters; lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 meters; mean elevation: 2 meters.
Land Use: agricultural land: 42 percent (2018 estimate). Arable Land: 2.5 percent (2018 estimate); permanent crops: 39.5 percent (2018 estimate); permanent pasture: 0 percent (2018 estimate); forest: 15 percent (2018 estimate); other: 43 percent (2018 estimate). Irrigated Land: 0 square kilometers (2022). [Source: CIA World Factbook 2023]
Climate: tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds.
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
Islands
Ocean islands are basically divided into three types: 1) "low" coral and sand islands; 2) "high" islands (usually exposed peaks and ridge-tops of submerged mountains and volcanos); and 3) parts of the continental shelf. Some continental islands were mountains and hills along the coast during last Ice Age when ocean levels were lower.
Low islands or cays were formed on coral shoals from reef sediments. Atoll islands are low islands (See Below). Seabird dropping fertilize the soils of some of these islands, which allow scrubby forest to take root. Others are battered regularly by storms and are little more than shifting piles of sand. Some patches of sand are so low they disappear during low tide and lose their status as islands.
High islands generally have better soil and a better supply of water than low islands. Low islands support only a few species of plant because there little topsoil and this soil has a high salt content. Although they often have no visible water sources they often are positioned over water lenses that trap rain water and can provide fresh water through wells.
See Separate Article ISLANDS: TYPES, HOW THEY FORM, FEATURES AND NATIONS ioa.factsanddetails.com
Image Sources:
Text Sources: CIA World Factbook, 2023; “Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Volume 2: Oceania,” edited by Terence E. Hays, 1991, Wikipedia, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, BBC, CNN, and various books, websites and other publications.
Last updated August 2023