Location:
Oceania, group of 33 coral atolls in the Pacific Ocean, straddling
the equator; the capital Tarawa is about one-half of the way from
Hawaii to Australia; note - on 1 January 1995, Kiribati proclaimed
that all of its territory lies in the same time zone as its Gilbert
Islands group (GMT +12) even though the Phoenix Islands and the Line
Islands under its jurisdiction lie on the other side of the
International Date Line
Geographic coordinates:
1 25 N, 173 00 E
Map references:
Oceania
Area:
total: 811 sq km
note: includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands,
Phoenix Islands
water: 0 sq km
land: 811 sq km
Area - comparative:
four times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
1,143 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate:
tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds
Terrain:
mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs