Background:
The [Gilbert Islands]
? were granted self-rule by the
United Kingdom in 1971 and complete independence in 1979 under the new name of Kiribati. The US relinquished all claims to the sparsely inhabited Phoenix and Line Island groups in a 1979 treaty of friendship with Kiribati.
From the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the U.S. Department of State website. Not Wikified.
Kiribati includes several of the Line Islands, including Malden Island.
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