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, Desertication, Endangered
Species, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection
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
People
Population: 85,501 (July 1999 est.)