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The following article outlines transport in Kiribati.
There are 670 km of highways in Kiribati (1996 est.) of which 27 km are paved in South Tarawa (2001). The longest stretch of road travels from South Tarawa to North Tarawa.
Ports and harbours include Banaba, Betio, English Harbor, and Kanton. There is a small network of canals, totaling 5 km, in the Line Islands. The Merchant marine includes the ships of the Kiribati JMR Group that operates the Coral Sea Shipping Line, which has three ships: Coral Sea number 1, Coral Sea number 2 and Coral Sea number 3. [1] One merchant ship connects, from time to time, the Line Islands (Kiritimati, Fanning and Washington) and makes stops en route at the Phoenix Islands.
2 small aeroplanes fly out of the Gilbert Islands, except for Banaba. Beginning in January 2009, Kiribati has two domestic airlines: Air Kiribati and Coral Sun Airways. Both airlines are based in Tarawa's Bonriki International Airport and serve destinations across the Gilbert Islands only. Neither the Phoenix nor Line Islands are served by the domestic carriers. The only served airport by any airline is Cassidy International Airport on Kiritimati. Fiji's national carrier Fiji Airways provides an international service from Fiji's main airport, Nadi International Airport to Cassidy Airport as well as to Bonriki Airport. Fiji Airways currently flies a twice weekly flight from Nadi International Airport to Bonriki, Kiribati.
As of 2010, there are 23 airports in Kiribati, of which 4 have paved runways, the only international ones being Bonriki International Airport and Cassidy International Airport. Bonriki International Airport is currently undergoing an upgrade program to bring airport security up to IATA standards - this includes the construction of a fence around the entire perimeter. [2]
Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in Oceania 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 remote 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.
Kiribati consists of 32 atolls and one island scattered over all four hemispheres in an expanse of ocean equivalent in size to the contiguous United States. The islands lie roughly halfway between Hawaii and Australia in the Micronesian and Polynesian regions of the South Pacific. The three main island groupings are the Gilbert Islands, Phoenix Islands, and Line Islands. On 1 January 1995 Kiribati moved the International Date Line to include its easternmost islands and make it the same day throughout the country.
Kiritimati is a Pacific Ocean atoll in the northern Line Islands. It is part of the Republic of Kiribati. The name is derived from the English word "Christmas" written in Gilbertese according to its phonology, in which the combination ti is pronounced s, giving [kiˈrɪsmæs].
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. The history of the colony 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.
Nauru Air Corporation, trading as Nauru Airlines, is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Nauru. It operates scheduled international services to other Pacific islands and Australia. Its main base is Nauru International Airport. Its head office is on the property of Nauru International Airport, Yaren District and its operations office is in Brisbane in the Australian state of Queensland. In August 2014, the airline changed its name from Our Airline to Nauru Airlines.
Banaba is an island of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean. A solitary raised coral island west of the Gilbert Island Chain, it is the westernmost point of Kiribati, lying 185 miles (298 km) east of Nauru, which is also its nearest neighbour. It has an area of 6 square kilometres, and the highest point on the island is also the highest point in Kiribati, at 81 metres (266 ft) in height. Along with Nauru and Makatea, it is one of the important elevated phosphate-rich islands of the Pacific.
Canton Island, previously known as "Mary Island", "Mary Balcout's Island" or "Swallow Island", is the largest, northernmost, and as of 2020, the sole inhabited island of the Phoenix Islands, in the Republic of Kiribati. It is an atoll located in the South Pacific Ocean roughly halfway between Hawaii and Fiji. The island is a narrow ribbon of land around a lagoon; an area of 40 km2 (15 sq mi). Canton's closest neighbour is the uninhabited Enderbury Island, 63 km (39 mi) west-southwest. The capital of Kiribati, South Tarawa, lies 1,765 km (1,097 mi) to the west. As of 2015, the population was 20, down from 61 in 2000. The island's sole village is called Tebaronga.
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 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.
Air Kiribati is the flag carrier of the Republic of Kiribati and operates scheduled passenger services to 20 atolls spread over an area of 3.5m sq km.
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.
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.
Funafuti International Airport is an airport in Funafuti, in the capital city of the island nation of Tuvalu. It is the sole international airport in Tuvalu. Fiji Airways operates between Suva and Funafuti. Air Kiribati provides one flight a week from Tarawa to Funafuti.
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.
Cassidy International Airport is an airport located north of Banana, a settlement on Kiritimati in Kiribati. Until 2018, it was the only airport in the Kiribati part of the Line Islands with an IATA or ICAO code.
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.
Coral Sun Airways is the younger of two Kiribati airlines, established in January 2009. The airline operated domestic service to all 17 airports in the Gilbert Islands, but stopped any regular service and offers only on-demand and chartered flights. In 2015 it purchased one new, larger aircraft, capable of flying to the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands. There was no domestic nor international service to these remote archipelagos to the east of the Gilbert Islands, having 8,800 and 20 inhabitants, respectively, except for one weekly flight on Fiji Airways between Honolulu and Kiritimati (Christmas) Island among the Line Islands, and Air Kiribati domestic flights between the Line Islands.
Air Tungaru was the first airline of Kiribati. As the predecessor of current Air Kiribati, it was Kiribati's national flag carrier. Air Tungaru's main base was the international airport at Kiribati's capital, South Tarawa. From there, regular service was provided to all 16 domestic airports in the Gilbert Islands.
The Coral reefs of Kiribati consists of 32 atolls and one raised coral island, Banaba, which is an isolated island between Nauru and the Gilbert Islands. The islands of Kiribati are dispersed over 3.5 million km2 (1.4 million sq mi) of the Pacific Ocean and straddle the equator and the 180th meridian, extending into the eastern and western hemispheres, as well as the northern and southern hemispheres. 21 of the 33 islands are inhabited. The groups of islands of Kiribati are:
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