30 August 2007 (next
to be held in 2011)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party -
NA, other 2 (includes attorney general)

Judicial branch:

Court of Appeal; High Court; 26 Magistrates' courts; judges at all
levels are appointed by the president

Political parties and leaders:

Boutokaan Te Koaua Party or BTK [Taberannang TIMEON]; Maneaban Te
Mauri Party or MTM [Teburoro TITO]; Maurin Kiribati Pati or MKP;
National Progressive Party or NPP [Dr. Harry TONG]
note: there is no tradition of formally organized political parties
in Kiribati; they more closely resemble factions or interest groups
because they have no party headquarters, formal platforms, or party
structures

Political pressure groups and leaders:

NA

International organization participation:

ACP, ADB, C, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF,
IMO, IOC, ITU, ITUC, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UPU, WHO, WMO

Diplomatic representation in the US:

Kiribati does not have an embassy in the US; there is an honorary
consulate in Honolulu

Diplomatic representation from the US:

the US does not have an embassy in Kiribati; the ambassador to Fiji
is accredited to Kiribati

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

Economy
Kiribati

Economy - overview:

A remote country of 33 scattered coral atolls, Kiribati has few
natural resources. Commercially viable phosphate deposits were
exhausted at the time of independence from the UK in 1979. Copra and
fish now represent the bulk of production and exports. The economy
has fluctuated widely in recent years. Economic development is
constrained by a shortage of skilled workers, weak infrastructure,
and remoteness from international markets. Tourism provides more
than one-fifth of GDP. Private sector initiatives and a financial
sector are in the early stages of development. Foreign financial aid
from UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and China equals more than
10% of GDP. Remittances from seamen on merchant ships abroad account
for more than $5 million each year. Kiribati receives around $15
million annually for the government budget from an Australian trust
fund.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$348 million (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$67 million