October 1994);
election last held on 30 September 1994 (next to be held by NA 1999)
cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the president from an elected
parliament

Legislative branch: unicameral
House of Assembly (Maneaba Ni Maungatabu): elections last held on 22
July 1994 (next to be held by NA 1999); results - percent of vote by
party NA; seats - (40 total; 39 elected) Maneaban Te Mauri 13,
National Progressive Party 7, independents 19

Judicial branch: Court of Appeal, High Court

Political parties and leaders: National Progressive Party, Teatao
TEANNAKI; Christian Democratic Party, Teburoro TITO; New Movement
Party, leader NA; Liberal Party, Tewareka TENTOA; Maneaba Party,
Roniti TEIWAKI; Maneaban Te Mauri, leader NA
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

Member of: ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFC, IFRCS
(associate), IMF, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, ITU,
SPARTECA, SPC, SPF, UNESCO, UPU, WHO

Diplomatic representation in US: Kiribati has no mission in the US

US diplomatic representation: the ambassador to Fiji is accredited to
Kiribati

Flag: 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

@Kiribati:Economy

Overview: A remote country of 33 scattered coral atolls, Kiribati has
few national resources. Commercially viable phosphate deposits were
exhausted at the time of independence in 1979. Copra and fish now
represent the bulk of production and exports. The economy has
fluctuated widely in recent years. Real GDP declined about 5% in 1987,
as the fish catch fell sharply to only one-fourth the level of 1986
and copra production was hampered by repeated rains. Output rebounded
strongly in 1988, with real GDP growing by 10%. The upturn in economic
growth came from an increase in copra production and a good fish
catch. GDP then fell by 2.2% in 1989 and by 2.9% in 1990, but has
risen by about 3% annually in 1991-93. Foreign financial aid, largely
from the UK and Japan, is a critical supplement to GDP, amounting to
25%-50% of GDP in recent years.

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $62 million (1993
est.)

National product real gr