Kiribati
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Kiribati (officially the Republic of Kiribati (Gilbertese: Ribaberiki Kiribati), is an independent island nation in the central Pacific Ocean. The permanent population is over 119,000 (2020), more than half of whom live on Tarawa Atoll. The state comprises 32 atolls and one raised coral island, Banaba. They have a total land area of 811 square kilometers (313 square miles) [Note 1]and is dispersed over 3.5 million km2 (1.4 million sq mi).
Their spread straddles the equator and the 180th meridian, although the International Date Line goes around Kiribati and swings far to the east, almost reaching the 150° W meridian. This brings Kiribati's easternmost islands, the southern Line Islands south of Hawaii, into the same day as the Gilbert Islands and places them in the most advanced time zone on Earth: UTC+14. Kiribati is the only country in the world to be situated in all four cardinal hemispheres.
Kiribati gained its independence from the United Kingdom, becoming a sovereign state in 1979. The capital, Tarawa, now the most populated area, consists of a number of islets, connected by a series of causeways. These comprise about half the area of Tarawa Atoll. Prior to its independence, the country had exported phosphate; however, those mines are no longer viable with fisheries and export of copra driving much of the economy. Kiribati is one of the least developed countries in the world and is highly dependent on international aid for its economy.
Kiribati is a member of the Pacific Community (SPC), Commonwealth of Nations, the IMF, the World Bank, the OACPS and became a full member of the United Nations in 1999 and also a member of the Pacific Islands Forum. As an island nation, the islands are very vulnerable to climate change, and addressing climate change has been a central part of its international policy, as a member of the Alliance of Small Island States.
Spanking in Kiribati
As of May 2008, Kiribati prohibits corporal punishment in schools. No other valid information about spanking in general was found when doing an internet/Google search.
Notes
- ↑ for reference, Rhode Island is 1,544 sqmi
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Kiribati ]
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