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Kiribati (pronounced "keer-ih-bahs") consists of 32 atolls and one island scattered over an expanse of ocean equivalent in size to the continental United States. The islands lie roughly halfway between Hawaii and Australia in the Micronesian region of the South Pacific. The three main groupings are the [Gilbert Islands]?, [Phoenix Islands]?, and Line Islands. On January 1, 1995 Kiribati unilaterally moved the [International Date Line]? to include its easternmost islands and make it the same day throughout the country. Kiribati contains Kiritimati (Christmas Island), the largest coral atoll in the world, and Banaba ([Ocean Island]?), one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific. Most of the land is less than two meters above sea level. A 1989 United Nations report identified Kiribati as one of the countries that would completely disappear in the 21st century if steps were not taken to address global climate change. In mid-1999 it was announced that two uninhabited coral reefs had sunk beneath the sea. Owing to a population growth rate of more than 2% and the overcrowding around the capital, a program of migration was begun in 1989 to move nearly 5,000 inhabitants to outlying atolls, mainly in the Line Islands. A further program of resettlement to the Phoenix Islands was begun in 1995. |
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