Demographics
The Republic of Kiribati, located in the Pacific, consists of 33 low-lying atoll islands in three main island groups, the Gilbert, Phoenix and Line Islands. The country spreads over 3.5. million kilometres of ocean, but has a total land area of only 811 square kilometres.
With an annual population growth rate of 1.9% (2006-2010), the 2006 estimated population of Kiribati is 93 706. The average population density is 115 per square kilometre, but this varies widely from 13 people per square kilometre in Kiritimati Island to 2558 in South Tarawa . Between 1995 and 2000, there was significant in-migration of people from the Outer Islands to South Tarawa, resulting in an urban growth rate of 5.2%, compared with a national growth rate of 1.7%. In-migration plateaued during 2000-2005, when the overall growth rate in South Tarawa reduced to 1.9%. Overcrowding in South Tarawa persists, however, putting stress on the environment and infrastructure. New ‘urban’ settlements have emerged since 2000, especially in Northern Tarawa and Kiritimati Island. Between 2000-2005, North Tarawa’s growth rate was 4.8% and Kirimati Island’s 8%, compared with 2.2.% and 1.2 %, respectively, during the period 1995-2000.
The total fertility rate was 3.5 in 2005, representing a decline from the 1990s, when it was reported to be about 4.5. Kiribati has a young population, with a median age of 20.7 years; 34.9% of the population is under 15 years of age and only 5 % over 64 years. The sex ratio was 97 males to 100 females in 2006.
There has been a steady improvement in health indicators over the last decade, but people in Kiribati still have a shorter life span than those in most other Pacific islands. In 2005, life expectancy at birth was estimated at 58.9 for males and 63.1 for females.
Political situation
Kiribati has a two-tier system of Government at central and local levels. The central Government (Maneaba ni Maungatabu) consists of 42 democratically elected members led by the President. The local level consists of 23 elected and appointed Councils, three in urban areas and 20 in the Outer Islands. Kiribati has enjoyed political stability since the election of the Boutokaan to Koaua Party in 2003.
The guiding development document of the Government, the National Development Plan for 2008-2011 sets out the main policy areas, and strategies are operationalized through respective line ministries.
While politically administration and service delivery is decentralized, line ministries and councils appear to have few decision-making powers and little authority. A project to strengthen governance in the Outer Islands has recently been launched by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The Government places considerable importance on its international commitments to health and recently became a signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the International Health Regulations. At the national level, food safety legislation was approved by Parliament in 2006. Tobacco legislation has been drafted, but has not yet been put before Parliament.
Socioeconomic situation
Kiribati is categorized as a least-developed country (LDC) because of its low per capita gross national product (GNP), limited human resources and high vulnerability to external forces. During the 1990s, the buoyant global economy, the use of the Australian dollar as domestic currency, access to external assistance and sound fiscal management of the Revenues Equalising Reserve Funds (RERF), derived from previous phosphate deposits, allowed achievment of relative macroeconomic stability.
The Kiribati economy remains relatively resilient, due to government reserve funds, which had a market value of US$ 336 million in 2003, and domestic income from fishing licences (approximately 23%), grants and loans (approximately 30%), remittances and a narrow domestic production base of marine products and copra (approximately 10%-20%). In 2004, there was a decline in GNP per capita from US$ 1040 in 1999 to US$ 970, largely due to a decline in the number of fishing licences issued.
The 2005 Census found that 64% of people above the age of 15 were “economically active”, but only 23% had regular paid employment; 53% of those employed were in public administration, while the remainder were employed mainly as subsistence farmers or fishermen. Subsidies to public entities are thought to reduce opportunities for private job creation. The lack of regular paid employment, particularly in urban settlements, is associated with an increase in youth violence and abuse of alcohol.
Kiribati is a signatory to the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and there is evidence that gender equality is improving. Women now comprise 51.8% of the workforce and girls outnumber boys in secondary and tertiary education. Women, however, are still underrepresented at all levels of decision-making, and domestic violence, linked to alcohol abuse, is an increasing problem.
In 2006, 65.0% of the population had access to an improved water source. South Tarawa and Kiritimati Island have public water supply infrastructures, with over 3500 households in South Tarawa and 400 in Kirimati connected to a reticulated, treated water system. The remaining population rely on rainwater supplies and well-water. The protection of the well-water and the water sources from pollution, mainly from nearby sanitations systems, is a constant public health concern.
In 2006, 33% of the population had access to improved sanitation. According to the 2005 Census, approximately 2000 premises are connected to a waterborne sewage system in the main settlements of South Tarawa, but most of the population reported using the beach, sea or bush for toileting facilities. Two solid-waste landfill sights have been developed to dispose of solid waste, although one is facing problems of seawater seepage. A solid-waste collection service is now operating in South Tarawa. Despite these developments, sanitation in South Tarawa is inadequate and the environment unhealthy.
Vulnerabilities and hazards
The low-lying atolls of Kiribati, rising no higher than three meters above sea-level, makes the country very vulnerable to climate change and rises in sea-level. It is estimated (World Bank Regional Economic Report 2000) that, without appropriate adaptation measures, 25%-54% of the land in areas of South Tarawa and 55%-80% in North Tarawa will be inundated by 2050.
The natural environment in urban areas is under pressure due to groundwater depletion, marine-life and sea-water contamination from human and solid waste, over-fishing of the reefs and lagoons, ad hoc construction of seawalls, coastal erosion and illegal beach mining, and contamination. The country is also facing considerable socioeconomic difficulities due to the ad hoc management of urban growth.