Diplomatic representation in US: Kiribati has no mission in the US
US diplomatic representation: the ambassador to Fiji is accredited to
Kiribati
Flag: the upper half is red with a yellow frigate bird flying over a yellow rising sun, and the lower half is blue with three horizontal wavy white stripes to represent the ocean
@Kiribati:Economy
Overview: A remote country of 33 scattered coral atolls, Kiribati has few national resources. Commercially viable phosphate deposits were exhausted at the time of independence in 1979. Copra and fish now represent the bulk of production and exports. The economy has fluctuated widely in recent years. Real GDP declined about 5% in 1987, as the fish catch fell sharply to only one-fourth the level of 1986 and copra production was hampered by repeated rains. Output rebounded strongly in 1988, with real GDP growing by 10%. The upturn in economic growth came from an increase in copra production and a good fish catch. GDP then fell by 2.2% in 1989 and by 2.9% in 1990, but has risen by about 3% annually in 1991-93. Foreign financial aid, largely from the UK and Japan, is a critical supplement to GDP, amounting to 25%-50% of GDP in recent years.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $62 million (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate: 2.9% (1993 est.)
National product per capita: $800 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.5% (1993 est.)
Unemployment rate: 2%; underemployment 70% (1992 est.)