Related Research Articles
Kiribati, officially the Independent and Sovereign Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of the 2020 census, with more than half living on Tarawa atoll. The state comprises 32 atolls and one remote raised coral island, Banaba. Its total land area is 811 km2 (313 sq mi) dispersed over 3,441,810 km2 (1,328,890 sq mi) of ocean.
The islands which now form the Republic of Kiribati have been inhabited for at least seven hundred years, and possibly much longer. The initial Austronesian peoples’ population, which remains the overwhelming majority today, was visited by Polynesian and Melanesian invaders before the first European sailors visited the islands in the 17th century. For much of the subsequent period, the main island chain, the Gilbert Islands, was ruled as part of the British Empire. The country gained its independence in 1979 and has since been known as Kiribati.
Politics of Kiribati takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Beretitenti, President of Kiribati, is both the head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government, Beretitenti, and his cabinet, all MPs. Legislative power is exercised by the House of Assembly. The Judiciary of Kiribati is independent of the executive and the legislature. The Constitution of Kiribati, promulgated at independence on 12 July 1979, establishes the Republic of Kiribati as a sovereign democratic republic and guarantees the fundamental rights of its citizens and residents.
The Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Papua New Guinea and Hawaii. They constitute the main part of the nation of Kiribati.
The Gilbert and Ellice Islands in the Pacific Ocean were part of the British Empire from 1892 to 1976. They were a protectorate from 1892 to 12 January 1916, and then a colony until 1 January 1976, and were administered as part of the British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT) until they became independent. The history of GEIC was mainly characterized by phosphate mining on Ocean Island. In October 1975, these islands were divided by force of law into two separate colonies, and they became independent nations shortly thereafter: the Ellice Islands became Tuvalu in 1978, and the Gilbert Islands became part of Kiribati in 1979.
In Kiribati, there are no longer official administrative divisions but it is possible to divide Kiribati geographically into one isolated island and three archipelagos or island groups:
Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati, in the Micronesia region of the central Pacific Ocean. It comprises North Tarawa, which has 6,629 inhabitants and much in common with other more remote islands of the Gilbert group, and South Tarawa, which has 56,388 inhabitants as of 2015, half of the country's total population. The atoll was the site of the Battle of Tarawa during World War II.
South Tarawa is the capital and hub of the Republic of Kiribati and home to more than half of Kiribati's population. The South Tarawa population centre consists of all the small islets from Betio in the west to Bonriki and Tanaea in the north-east, connected by the South Tarawa main road, with a population of 63,439 as of 2020.
The Kiribati men's national football team is the national men's football team of Kiribati and is controlled by the Kiribati Islands Football Association. Kiribati is not a member of FIFA but is an associate member of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and is therefore not eligible to enter the FIFA World Cup but may enter the OFC Nations Cup. It became a provisional member of the N.F.-Board on 10 December 2005.
The British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT) was a colonial entity created in 1877 for the administration of a series of Pacific islands in Oceania under a single representative of the British Crown, styled the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific. Except for Fiji and the Solomon Islands, most of these colonial possessions were relatively minor.
Nikunau is a low coral atoll in the Gilbert Islands that forms a council district of the Republic of Kiribati. It consists of two parts, with the larger in the northwest, joined by an isthmus about 150 metres (490 ft) wide.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Kiribati:
Christianity is the predominant religion in Kiribati, with Catholicism being its largest denomination.
The Catholic Church in Kiribati is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, which, inspired by the life, death and teachings of Jesus Christ, and under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and Roman curia in the Vatican City is the largest Christian church in the world. Koru Tito is Bishop of Tarawa and Nauru, with see in Kiribati.
The sport of football in the country of Kiribati is run by the Kiribati Islands Football Federation. The sport is popular in the country, likely originating with their previous British rule, and has been played on the islands since 1979 at the latest, with their participation in the 1979 Pacific Games. The association administers the national men's football team and national women's football team as well as national football. For national football there is primarily the Kiribati National Championship, where there's evidence as early as 1984 for the men and 2002 for the women. This covers the whole country, though far flung Kiritimati do not always compete, likely due to financial constraints. In 2021 there was an additional Tarawa Champions League, won by SB Lyke It, though no representative was sent to the OFC Champions League.
The Kiribati Islands Football Association, formerly the Kiribati Islands Football Federation, is the governing body of football in Kiribati, established in 1980. It organises the nation's football league, the Kiribati National Championship, as well as controlling national men's, women's and futsal teams.
Association football is the most popular sport in Tuvalu. Football in Tuvalu is governed by the Tuvalu National Football Association (TNFA). The TNFA became an associate member association of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) on 15 November 2006 with a further reinstatement on 16 March 2020. The TNFA has been wanting to become a full member of the OFC and a member of FIFA since 1987.
North Tarawa or in Gilbertese Tarawa Ieta, in the Republic of Kiribati, is the string of islets from Buariki at the northern tip of Tarawa atoll to Buota in the South, with a combined population of 6,629 as of 2015. It is administratively separate from neighbouring South Tarawa, and is governed by the Eutan Tarawa Council (ETC), based at Abaokoro.
Norma Timon Yeeting is a reproductive health advocate from Tarawa, Kiribati.
The Kiribati women's national football team is the women's national football team of Kiribati and is controlled by the Kiribati Islands Football Association. Kiribati is not a member of FIFA or of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and is therefore not eligible to enter the FIFA Women's World Cup. Kiribati is a member of ConIFA, though there have been no women's tournaments to date for the side to participate in.
References
- ↑ "About KIFA - Kiribati Islands Football Association". SportsTG. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ↑ "Kiribati - List of Champions". RSSSF . Retrieved 2019-02-11.
- ↑ rsssf.org; Kiribati 2010
