Kiribati

Official name: Republic of Kiribati

Capital city: Tarawa

Internet country code: .ki

 Flag description: The upper half is red with a yellow frigate bird flying over a yellow rising sun, and the lower half is blue with three horizontal wavy white stripes to represent the ocean

Geographical description: Oceania, group of 33 coral atolls in the Pacific Ocean, straddling the Equator; the capital Tarawa is about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Aus­tralia; note - on 1 January 1995, Kiribati proclaimed that all of its territory lies in the same time zone as its Gilbert Islands group (UTC +12) even though the Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands under its jurisdiction lie on the other side of the International Date Line

Total area: 266 sq. mi. (719 sq. km.)

Climate: Tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds

Nationality: noun: I-Kiribati (singular and plural, pro­nounced ee-keer-ah-bhass); adjective: I-Kiribati

Population: 107,817 (July 2007 CIA est.)

Ethnic groups: Micronesian 98.8%, other 1.2%

Languages spoken: English (official), Gilbertese/I-Kiribati

Religions: Roman Catholic 52%, Protestant (Congregation­al) 40%, other (includes Seventh-Day Adventist, Muslim, Baha’i, Latter-day Saints, Church of God) 8%