KIRIBATI

KIRIBATI.

Islands of Kiribati.
Map of Nikumaroro Island.
Second stamp in a set of 4, issued on 14.02.1984.
Face value: 30 cents of Kiribati dollar.
Printing: Offset lithography.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 436.
- Scott No. 437.
- StampWorld No. 115.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 216.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 115.

Republic of Kiribati (in Gilbertese, Ribaberiki Kiribati) is an independent island nation in the central Pacific Ocean. It comprises 32 atolls and one raised coral island, Banaba. Its total land area is 811 km2 (313 sq mi) and the islands are dispersed over 3.5 million km2 (1.4 million sq mi) on both sides of the equator. The permanent population is over 119,000 (2020). Kiribati gained its independence from the United Kingdom on July 12, 1979. The capital, South Tarawa, is the most populated area in the country and consists of several islets, connected by a long road. Kiribati is a member of the Pacific Community, the Commonwealth of Nations, the IMF and the World Bank, the Pacific Islands Forum, the Alliance of Small Island States, and a full member of the United Nations since 1999. Before its independence it was called the Gilbert Islands, in honor of Thomas Gilbert, who sighted some of the islands in 1788.

Nikumaroro, used to be known as Kemins Island or Gardner Island, it is a part of the Phoenix Islands, in the western Pacific Ocean. It is a remote, elongated, triangular coral atoll with profuse vegetation and a large central marine lagoon. It is about 7.5 km (4.7 mi) long by 2.5 km (1.6 mi) wide. The rim has two narrow entrances, both of which are blocked by a wide reef, which is dry at low tide. It is included among the 8 Kiribati atolls declared in 2006 Phoenix Islands Protected Area, expanded in 2008. The first record of a European sighting was made by the crew of the British whaling ship Eliza Ann in 1824. It is speculated that Amelia Earhart's plane, which in 1937 attempted her flight around the world with navigator Fred Noonan, may have crashed on this island, but no remains have been found to prove it.