Kiribati, officially the 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 flag of Kiribati is red in the upper half with a gold frigatebird flying over a gold rising sun (otintaai), and the lower half is blue with three horizontal wavy white stripes to represent the ocean and the three archipelagoes. The 17 rays of the sun represent the 16 Gilbert Islands and Banaba.
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 country of Kiribati.
Air Kiribati is the flag carrier of the Republic of Kiribati and operates scheduled passenger services to 20 atolls spread over an area of 3.5 million square kilometres (1,400,000 sq mi).
Abemama (Apamama) is an atoll, one of the Gilberts group in Kiribati, and is located 152 kilometres southeast of Tarawa and just north of the Equator. Abemama has an area of 27.37 square kilometres and a population of 3,299 as of 2015. The islets surround a deep lagoon. The eastern part of the atoll of Abemama is linked together by causeways making automobile traffic possible between the different islets. The outlying islands of Abatiku and Biike are situated on the southwestern side of the atoll.
Kuria is an atoll, formed by a pair of islets, in the Central Gilbert Islands in Kiribati, northwest of Aranuka. The two islets, Buariki and Oneeke, are separated by a 20 metre wide channel on a shallow water platform, which is crossed by a bridge of the connecting road. The islands are surrounded by fringing reef which is broadest on the eastern side of Kuria. The population of Kuria was 1,046 in 2015.
Nonouti is an atoll and district of Kiribati. The atoll is located in the Southern Gilbert Islands, 38 km north of Tabiteuea, and 250 km south of Tarawa. The atoll is the third largest in the Gilbert Islands and is the island where the Roman Catholic religion was first established in Kiribati, in 1888.
The Cabinet of Kiribati is the cabinet of the government of the Republic of Kiribati.
The Ministry of Power and Energy is a cabinet ministry of the Government of Sri Lanka responsible for power and renewable energy. The ministry is responsible for formulating and implementing national policy on power and renewable energy and other subjects which come under its purview.
The Ministry of Transport and Highways is the central government ministry of Sri Lanka responsible for transport. The ministry is responsible for formulating and implementing national policy on transport and other subjects which come under its purview. The current Minister of Transport and Highways is Bandula Gunawardane. The ministry's secretary is Nihal Somaweera.
The Ministry of Telecommunication, Digital Infrastructure and Foreign Employment is the central government ministry of Sri Lanka responsible for telecommunication and digital infrastructure. The ministry is responsible for formulating and implementing national policy on telecommunication and digital infrastructure and other subjects which come under its purview. The current Minister of Telecommunication, Digital Infrastructure and Foreign Employment and Deputy Minister of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure are Harin Fernando and Tharanath Basnayake respectively. The ministry's secretary is Wasantha Deshapriya.
The Ministry of Home Affairs is a cabinet ministry of the Government of Sri Lanka responsible for public administration.
Teuea Toatu is an I-Kiribati politician who is the current vice president and minister for Finance & Economic Development in the Cabinet of Kiribati. He is 1 of 3 Members of the House of Assembly representing the constituency of Abaiang. He was appointed vice-president (Kauoman-ni-Beretienti) on 19 June 2019. He graduated with a BA in accounting and economics form the University of the South Pacific in 1980, and completed a certificate in computing at the University of East Anglia in 1984. He subsequently completed his MSc at the University of Strathclyde and his PhD at the Australian National University.
Tessie Eria Lambourne is an I-Kiribati civil servant, diplomat and politician. She has been a member of the Maneaba ni Maungatabu (Parliament) since April 2020. She was formerly Kiribati's Ambassador to the Republic of China (Taiwan) from June 2018 to September 2019 and Secretary to the Cabinet, the highest position in Kiribati's civil service, from August 2016 until June 2018.
The Ministry of Education (MoE) is a government ministry of Kiribati, headquartered in Bikenibeu, Tarawa, next to the King George V and Elaine Bernacchi School. As of 2018 the ministry has about 1,400 employees.
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy (MISE) is a government ministry of Kiribati, as ministry of infrastructure and as ministry of energy, headquartered in South Tarawa.
The Ministry of Information, Communications, Transport and Tourism Development (MICTTD) is a government ministry of Kiribati, headquartered in Betio, South Tarawa.
Tekeeua Tarati is an I-Kiribati politician and entrepreneur, Minister for Information, Communications, Transport and Tourism development since July 2020.
