!!!Kiribati: Geography ||Location|Oceania, group of 33 coral atolls in the Pacific Ocean, straddling the Equator; the capital Tarawa is about half way between Hawaii and Australia ||Geographic Coordinates|1 25 N, 173 00 E[{GoogleMap location='1.4166666,173.0' zoom='4'}] ||Area |''total: ''811 sq km\\''land: ''811 sq km\\''water: ''0 sq km\\''__note:__ ''includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, and Phoenix Islands - dispersed over about 3.5 million sq km (1.35 million sq mi)\\[[__''Verified in 8 databases''__] ||Land boundaries|0 km ||Coastline|1,143 km ||Elevation Extremes|''lowest point: ''Pacific Ocean 0 m\\''highest point: ''unnamed elevation on Banaba 81 m ||Highest Mountains| ||Terrain|mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs ||Natural Hazards|typhoons can occur any time, but usually November to March; occasional tornadoes; low level of some of the islands make them sensitive to changes in sea level ||Natural Resource|phosphate (production discontinued in 1979) ||Land Use|''arable land: ''2.47%\\''permanent crops: ''39.51%\\''other: ''58.02% (2011) ||Climate|tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds ||Irrigated Land|NA ||Renewable Water Resources|NA ||Environment_CurrentIssues|heavy pollution in lagoon of south Tarawa atoll due to heavy migration mixed with traditional practices such as lagoon latrines and open-pit dumping; ground water at risk ||Environment - international agreements|''party to: ''Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling\\''signed, but not ratified: ''none of the selected agreements ||Large Cities|__Due to difference in city rankings taken from two data sources we are listing here both lists :__\\According to [Wolfram|http://www.wolframalpha.com]: Bairiki; Taburao; Bonriki; Buariki; Temaraia\\According to [Geonames|http://www.geonames.org]: Tarawa; Betio Village; Bikenibeu Village; Teaoraereke Village; Bairiki Village\\\\\__Attempted Explanation:__ Please help us to try to explain the discrepancies by sending us helpful information to [office@global-geography.org|mailto:office@global-geography.org] \\[Important Cities|Geography/Australia/Kiribati/Geography/Important_Cities] ||Geography-note|21 of the 33 islands are inhabited; Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean - the others are Makatea in French Polynesia, and Nauru; Kiribati is the only country in the world to fall into all four hemispheres (northern, southern, eastern, and western)