Kiribati — the country is amazing. In addition to the natural beauty, it is also notable for the fact that 99.99% of the world’s population has no idea about its existence. Only the most desperate tourists get to these remote islands, but they are rewarded for their perseverance.
Interesting facts about Kiribati
- The composition of this Pacific state includes 33 atolls, but there are only 13 permanent residents.
- The highest point of Kiribati lies at an altitude of 81 meters above sea level. That’s quite a lot of — you can look at the Maldives, also located on atolls, where the highest point is at a height of less than five meters (interesting facts about the Maldives).
- Despite the fact that the entire land area of the country does not exceed 811 square kilometers, it owns three and a half million square kilometers of water space.
- Kiritimati Atoll, which is part of the country, — the largest coral atoll on earth. It accounts for about 80% of the entire landmass of this country.
- In the 20th century, the United States tested atomic bombs on two atolls belonging to Kiribati.
- The population of this country is almost mono-ethnic — about 90% of it is made up of representatives of the Tungaru nation.
- Among the local villages there are London, Paris and others. Locals like to call their villages after European capitals.
- Road signs here are often hand-drawn on suitable surfaces.
- Kiribati — the only country on Earth located in all hemispheres at once — north and south, west and east.
- Even though English has the status of an official language here, few people speak it, and if they do, it is usually bad. The local population prefers to communicate in their own language — Kiribati
- Local money — Kiribati dollars hard pegged to other dollars — Australian. The latter, by the way, are also in use here.
- Kiribati does not have an army, like many other small countries like Tuvalu (interesting facts about Tuvalu).
- Christmas Island, part of Kiribati, has more bird species than any other island in the world.
- The country’s only embassy is in the Republic of Fiji.
- Once, fishermen from Kiribati involuntarily set a record for staying on the high seas — 177 days. In the end, they all survived.
- Some local coins are not round — they have 12 corners.
- The production and sale of local stamps, which are highly valued by collectors from other countries, brings a good income to the treasury of Kiribati.
- Modern writing in Kiribati uses the letters of the Latin alphabet.
- Kiribati — the only country in the world that is visited by fewer tourists than even Micronesia (interesting facts about Micronesia).
- There are no rivers in Kiribati.