Kiribati

Kiribati (pronounced kee-ree-bass), an island nation in the South Pacific, consists of 33 islands dispersed over more than 3,500,000 km² of ocean. Situated along the equator and divided by the 180th meridian, Kiribati is divided into three archipelagos: the Gilbert Islands, Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands, in that order from west to east. Banaba, the easternmost of Kiribati's islands, is much different than the other 32.

All of Kiribati's islands are coral atolls, meaning they are nearly completely flat and have lagoons. Banaba is a raised island with elevation as high as 80 meters, whereas atolls typically have an elevation of no more than a few meters. For three quarters of a century, when Kiribati was still a British colony, Ocean Island, as the British referred to Banaba, was mined for guano to be used as fertilizer.

In 1979, when the guano reserves were exhausted, the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony became two separate nations: Kiribati and Tuvalu. Kiribati soon added the mostly-uninhabited Phoenix and Line island groups to its atoll portfolio. Of the 33 islands, 22 are inhabited, with the remaining set aside as wildlife sanctuaries.