Elevation extremes: lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Banaba 81 m
Natural resources: phosphate (production discontinued in 1979)
Land use: arable land: NA% permanent crops : 51% permanent pastures: NA% forests and woodland: 3% other: 46% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: typhoons can occur any time, but usually November to
March; occasional tornadoes
Environment - current issues: heavy pollution in lagoon of south Tarawa atoll due to heavy migration mixed with traditional practices such as lagoon latrines and open-pit dumping; ground water at risk
Environment - international agreements: party to : Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: 20 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:People
Population: 82,449 (July 1997 est.)