The only State disciplined forces in Kiribati are a unified national police force, with prison and quarantine powers, and the coast guard. Defense assistance is provided by Australia and New Zealand. The police force does not report to any ministers but rather directly to the President of Kiribati. [1]
The Kiribati Police Service is an independent body with one police officer for every 222 people (total staff over 500 with strength approximately 458 sworn members). Ioeru Tokantetaake is the current Commissioner of Police (since 2004), and also presides over prisons in Kiribati.
The Kiribati Police Service carry scarce weapons. Drill purpose rifle are used for drills and some officers have been provided AR-15 rifles.
There are police stations on every inhabited island in Kiribati. Key police posts include:
The police operate the RKS Teanoai (301) , a Pacific class patrol boat provided to Kiribati by Australia as part of the Pacific Patrol Boat Program and delivered new in 1994. The vessel is registered and stationed in Tarawa.
KPS is responsible for managing the prisons in Kiribati. There are 4 prisons in Kiribati with 3 for men and 1 for women. [2] As of 2013, there are 141 persons detained in the system. Prison staff are members of the Kiribati Police Service.
There are two prisons in Kiribati:
Fire and rescue services are the responsibility of the KPS. [3]
In 2012 Japan donated a chemical pumper to Kiribati to be stationed in Betio to replace the role of the fire truck at Bonriki International Airport on the other end of the island. [4]
Select members of the KPS are selected to protect the President and other dignitaries. [5]
Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an independent island nation in the central Pacific Ocean. The permanent population is over 119,000 (2020), more than half of whom live on Tarawa atoll. The state comprises 32 atolls and one raised coral island, Banaba. There is a total land area of 811 square kilometres dispersed over 3.5 million km2 (1.4 million 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 is independent of the executive and the legislature. The Constitution, 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 following article outlines transport in Kiribati.
Anote Tong is an I-Kiribati politician for the Pillars of Truth party and environmental activist with half Chinese heritage, who served as President of Kiribati, from 2003 to 2016. He won the election in July 2003 with a slim plurality of votes cast (47.4%) against his older brother, Harry Tong (43.5%) and the private lawyer Banuera Berina (9.1%). The elections were contested by the opposition, due to allegations of electoral fraud but the High Court of Tarawa had confirmed that there was no fraud. He was re-elected on 17 October 2007 for a second term (64%). In 2012, Tong was reelected for a third term, although with a significantly smaller percentage than in the previous two elections.
Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati, in the central Pacific Ocean. It comprises North Tarawa, which has 6,629 inhabitants and much in common with other more remote islands of the Gilberts 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.
Betio is the largest township of Kiribati's capital city, South Tarawa, and the country's main port. The settlement is located on a separate islet at the extreme southwest of the atoll.
Pillars of Truth was a political party in Kiribati, until 2020 when it merged with the Kiribati First Party to create the Boutokaan Kiribati Moa Party.
Bonriki International Airport is an international airport in Kiribati, serving as the main gateway to the country. It is located in its capital, South Tarawa, which is a group of islets in the atoll of Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands, precisely on Bonriki.
Bikenibeu is a settlement in Kiribati. It is located close to the southeastern corner of the Tarawa atoll, part of the island country of Kiribati. It is part of a nearly continuous chain of settlements along the islands of South Tarawa, which are now linked by causeways. The low-lying atoll is vulnerable to sea level rise. Rapid population growth has caused some environmental problems. Kiribati's main government high school, King George V and Elaine Bernachi School, is located in Bikenibeu, as well as the Ministries of Environment and Education.
Buariki is an island in northern Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands of the Republic of Kiribati. It was the site of the Battle of Buariki in World War II.
The Cabinet of Kiribati is the cabinet of the government of the Republic of Kiribati.
Parliamentary elections were held in Kiribati on October 21 and 28, 2011. In the first round, exactly half of the 44 members of parliament were elected, with the remainder chosen in the proceeding run-off elections. 30 candidates were reelected, and four government ministers lost their seats. One seat had to go to a third round of elections due to two candidates tying in the second round. In the third round, Jacob Teem defended his seat against Rutio Bangao with just 27 votes difference. The parliament in Kiribati is known as Maneaba ni Maungatabu. The next parliamentary election was not scheduled until 2015.
Taneti Maamau is an I-Kiribati politician who has served as the 5th President of Kiribati since 11 March 2016.
India and Kiribati established diplomatic relations in 1985. The High Commission of India in Suva, Fiji is concurrently accredited to Kiribati. Kiribati maintains an Honorary Consulate in New Delhi.
The Governor of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands was the colonial head of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands civil service from 1892 until 1979.
Vivian Fox-Strangways was a British officer, Resident Commissioner of the partly occupied by Japan Gilbert and Ellice Islands, from 1941 to 1946.
The Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agricultural Development is a government ministry of Kiribati, headquartered in Bikenibeu, South Tarawa.
Kiribati-Taiwan relations refers to relations between Kiribati and Taiwan. Kiribati, under the government of President Taneti Mamau, initially recognised the ROC but switched to PRC later on.
 | This Republic of Kiribati-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |