Talk:Kiribati/Archive 1

Archive 1

Really?

Is there any better estimate than this? "The area now called Kiribati has been inhabited by Micronesians speaking the same Oceanic language since sometime between 3000 BC[2] and AD 1300." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.19.140.208 (talk) 17:12, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

Pronunciation!

I think this is VERY important, as even journalists are reported to read WP :) I've already heard them pronounce it like ['kiribahs], without the end-I. I've just nicked the pronunciation string from the German article, referred to French one, changed a into ae and put it in. -andy 217.91.47.231 13:16, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

Maybe I misunderstand the Blevins article I read on Gilbertese but I was under the impression that /t/ became [s] before /i/. Is there a rule in the language I don't know about that subsequently deletes the /i/? Ƶ§œš¹ _{[aɪm ˈfɻɛ̃ⁿdˡi]} 09:07, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Kiribati is not a Gilbertese word: transcription of Gilberts, the final i is not pronounced.-Enzino 12:33, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Can we have an English syllable pronunciation guide as well, for people who don't care about IPA/are stupid, like me? Something like "KI-ri-bahs"? A number of other articles have this, and it makes it easier for a lot of people. --naught101 09:58, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

Done. -Henry W. Schmitt 14:02, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

Actually, the MOS on pronunciation says such ad-hoc methods are deprecated. Although WP may allow it alongside IPA, I believe it's completely inappropriate to use it for foreign words. Ƶ§œš¹ _{[aɪm ˈfɻɛ̃ⁿdˡi]} 19:23, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

Well seeing as only a select few understand the IPA system, I think the kee-ree-bas alongside the IPA is just fine. Personally I would pronounce "ˈkiribæs" as "kearabase". And I think foreign words are the perfect place to spell it out, as IPA is a foreign language for most. -Henry W. Schmitt 21:13, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

Audio files

There are two given pronunciations: [ˈkiːrɨbæs] and [ˌkirɨˈbɑti] - to me these look like two different words, based on my understanding of IPA. Yet the associated audio links point to the same file. Is this right? -Etoile (talk) 03:15, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

The Sinking of Kiribati

I found this today:

The small island nation of Kiribati is made up of 33 small atolls, none of which is more than 6.5 feet above the South Pacific, and it is only a matter of time before the entire country is submerged by the rising sea.

"For Kiribati, the tipping point has already occurred," Schneider said. "As far as they're concerned, it's tipped, but they have no economic clout in the world."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11079935/page/2/

Should this be added?

I found more today. They are preparing to leave their islands in anticipation of rising sea levels. Anyone care to add or comment?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/kiribati/9127576/Entire-nation-of-Kiribati-to-be-relocated-over-rising-sea-level-threat.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.92.166.105 (talk) 00:06, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

Seems a bit strange, "a matter in time" in this case from what I can tell seems to be over 100 years from now: [1] Or did something seriously drastic happen in the last 2 years? 203.101.230.168 (talk) 04:12, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

Kiribati

Uh... the temp page for Kiribati is at Luxembourg/Temp? Surely that's a typo... -- April

---

Kingdom or republic?

I don't get it - how can a republic have national motto like "Fear the God, respect the king"? --Romanm 13:27, 14 Mar 2004 (UTC)

According to http://flagspot.net/flags/ki.html, Kiribati has another national motto since 1979, when it became independent. --Peterlin 10:10, 15 Mar 2004 (UTC)

It's true, this is the former motto of the British colony. Now, the motto is Te mauri, te raoi ao te tabomoa since 12 July 1979.

--Enzino 11:01, 20 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I removed the old motto (i.e. Motto of the Gilbert & Ellice :'Maaka te Atua, karinea te uea; mataku i te Atua, fakamamalu ki te tupu (Gilbertese and Tuvalu: fear the God, respect the king). A-giau 08:46, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Coat of arms

This is not the coat of arms of Kiribati but of the former one of Gilbert & Ellice Colony until 1976. The main difference is the motto.--Enzino 17:29, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Old coat of arms: http://www.ngw.nl/int/aus/kiribati.htm

1995

When Kiribati, in 1995, realigned the International Date Line, some funky time change must have occurred. Before the change, the eastern part of the country was lagging 23 h behind the western part, since when it was January 1, 01h00 in the east, it was already January 2, 00h00 in the west. So when the change occurred, the eastern part of the country jumped ahead 23 hours and therefore experienced a day lasting just one hour! When did that happen? Urhixidur 02:13, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

International Date Line says the change occurred on January 1, 1995, but not when during that day (or just before). Caroline (Millennium) Island jumped from UTC-10 to UTC+14. It must have skipped a whole day! Did the island skip December 31, 1994, entirely? Urhixidur 02:58, 23 April 2006 (UTC).

Nobody lives on Caroline: who cares they skipped a whole day? :). The nearest unhabited island is Christmas Island…Enzino 00:31, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Two Tourism Links

I added two Kiribati tourism links. Inkan1969 08:44, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Census

I replaced the census figure in the table with the actual total from the 2000 census ( via this page). There wasn't a 2001 census; the figure that had been in our table was the July 2000 est. from the Factbook, it seems.

There was a census in November 2005 but the results are still provisional. I added a link (the page linked above) to the External Links section. --Cam 09:07, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

Illogical

In Gilbertese there is no letter 's', the sound being represented by 'ti'. That is why Kiritimati Island is known in English as Christmas Island (not to be confused with the Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, which is administered by Australia).

"That is why..."? Eh, What? That makes no sense at all. Obviously the logic of Gilbertese is also somewhat different from that of English. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.162.31.181 (talk) 14:36, 24 September 2006

I agree that there is a problem in that sentence, but the issue is in English, not in the language of Kiribati. It should read: "That is why the Pacific island known as Christmas Island in English is called Kiritimati Island in Gilbertese. This island should not be confused with the Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, which is administered by Australia."

Another section that needs a lot of help is the demographics section. It refers to the language as "Gilbertese" early on, then calls the language "Kiribati" (linking to "Kiribati language", a redirect to Gilbertese language). These are both alternate names for "te taetae ni kiribati" ("The language of Kiribati"), the official name. The article should be consistent throughout. Oh, and don't forget to sign your posts with "~~~~". Happy editing! --Cromwellt|talk|contribs 16:07, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Hey, to make this idea clearer. There is a sound sssss in the language but just not the letter. The sound sssss is represented by the letters [ti].

For similar distortions of English borrowings, check out the Hawaiian or Japanese pronunciations of Christmas, kelikimaki and kurisumasu. Gilbertese phonemic /kiritimati/ is broadly phonetic [kiɾisimasi], not a bad approximation. kwami (talk) 00:54, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

You're saying that Kiritimati is pronounced with an I at the end? like Christmasee? --Henry W. Schmitt (talk) 02:57, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

We've gone over this with Kiribati itself. I can't find any ref. to final i being silent after t; it might be so in general, or maybe in English borrowings, I don't know. I was just trying to illustrate that it's not that weird a spelling. kwami (talk) 07:11, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

Britannica,Merriam-Webster and reference.com. I am sure the same sources can tell you how to pronounce Kiribati as well. --Henry W. Schmitt (talk) 08:58, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

Proposed WikiProject

There is now a proposed WikiProject dealing with the area of Micronesia at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#Micronesia. Any interested parties should add their names there, so we can see if there is enough interest in this project to try to officially start it. Thank you. Badbilltucker 21:22, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

History

I would like to see more history on the islands. When were they first inhabited? Is there any information on historic population levels? How about events of note? Interactions with the rest of the world? How about current trends, such as population growth, migration patterns, etc? --greenmoss 15:41, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Removed "Hula" reference

The dance section used to read "Smiling whilst dancing as seen in the modern Hawaiin Hula is generally considered vulgar within the context of Kiribati dancing. This is due to its origin of not being solely as a form of entertainment but as a form of storytelling and a display of the skill, beauty and endurance of the dancer. "

Hula is also a form of storytelling, and a display of the skill, beauty, and endurance of the dancer, so this description does not explain why the Kiribati do not smile during dance. The old version implies that Hula is "solely a form of entertainment", which it is not. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.25.244.2 (talk) 09:06, 9 March 2007 (UTC).

Kiribati Scouting

Can someone render "Be Prepared", the Scout Motto, into i-Kiribati? Thanks! Chris 15:30, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

I know nothing about i-Kiribati grammar, but this dictionary suggests "Mena tauraoi." Axeman89 19:59, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

The language is called Gilbertese; the people are called I-Kiribati. I have confirmed this with an I-Kiribati in the past. -Indolences 20:38, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

Thank you so much, and sorry for my misunderstanding. Chris 21:26, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

I knew that, but had forgotten it! Axeman89 00:39, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

Environment - POV?

The section "The politics of the environment" seems a tad POV to me, and has no external references. I suggest a cleanup. --Popoi 15:52, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGTb9OB17xc -Indolences 06:28, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

hanah —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.108.81.150 (talk) 14:20, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

Demonym

Isn't the demonym technically Kiribatian instead of I-Kiribati? ArchonMeld (talk) 07:20, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

What makes you say that?--Henry W. Schmitt (talk) 22:57, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

In English it's Gilbertese, in Tungaru it's I-Kiribati. kwami (talk) 00:22, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

You win. Despite being the Kiribati connoisseur I am, I was not familiar with the word Tungaru. thanks for using it here. --Henry W. Schmitt (talk) 06:52, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

Confusion

I don't know what the answer should be as I was just browsing this page to learn about Kiribati after seeing it on a map, but I do know that the Human development page needs work as the average life expectancy reported is higher than either that of the males or females. I expect maybe this is a typo and is suppose to be 60?

The page states, "The population of Kiribati has a life expectancy at birth of 70 years (57 for males, and 63 for females) and an infant mortality rate of 54 deaths per 1,000 live births." Dorothy Robinett (talk) 19:03, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Prehistory: Samoa

Is there any evidence more solid for supporting Tonga and Fiji as prehistory influences? From what I've seen much of the prehistory influence was Samoan. I have lived in both Samoa and Kiribati for periods of time. The songs and dances show a lot of Samoan influence. What's more, the traditional songs refer to Samoa by name, although in Gilbertese it is rendered "Tamoa". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.88.199.103 (talk) 11:36, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

An usual mistake

"The new state chose the name "Kiribati," the Gilbertese rendition of "Gilberts," as an equivalent of the former colony to acknowledge the inclusion of islands which were never considered part of the Gilberts chain.[3]" is a complete false etymology. For all I-Kiribati, Kiribati means Gilberts and I do not understand how Kiribati could acknowledge the inclusion of the two other groups (Line and Phoenix). I have spoken of that with the first president of Kiribati: he confirmed that this was the invention of Western people that does not know the Kiribati. They only chose to give a Gilbertese form to Gilberts.--Enzino (talk) 22:20, 3 May 2009 (UTC)

Nuclear Testing

I am wondering if there needs to be some extension on the nuclear testing section on the Kiribati page. This period in the history of Kiribati was significant in terms of it's effect on the cold war with regards to the United Kingdom. Does anyone know much about the testing that went on there in this period?Paulman (talk) 16:19, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

I think the statement that nuclear testing was taking place in the late 1960s is wrong. The Test Ban Treaty came into force in 1963. This should read early 1960s (?) Romping Cloud (talk) 20:57, 24 December 2009 (UTC)

You appear to be correct. Britain tested nuclear weapons at Kiritimati (aka Christmas Island) and Malden Island in 1956-8 and the United States tested at Kiritimati in 1962, but not as far as I can ascertain since. I'll change the article.-gadfium 05:29, 25 December 2009 (UTC)

UK tested Pu weapons in Australia in the early 50s, with Australia getting a peek at the secrets. Hydrogen tests were conducted in UK controlled line islands, to avoid further foreign peeking. The US muscled into the testing, allegedly using a C19 agreement over whaling and scientific rights of entry. The UK islands were also beyond the control of the State Dept. The testing ended before the Nassau agreement in Dec 1962. The UK got to buy US bombs, in exchange for supplying all weapons-grade Pu to the US. The only Pu fast-breeder in the US was closed soon after. UK moved weapons testing to Nevada, but were actually US weapons. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.244.76.27 (talk) 08:26, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

Human right section

It's been uncited for almost 2 years. I don't oppose reinclusion if reliable sources are found. LibStar (talk) 05:23, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

kilometres?

I seem to think that whether one lives in the metric world or not, such large distances berween the islands should be labelled in Nautical Miles. Anyhoo. With a maximum length of 2357 MN, could also mention that Kribati is (probaply) the worlds smallest country that is longer than Argentina.(82.134.28.194 (talk) 11:12, 16 July 2010 (UTC))

%Water

The current version of this page says that Kiribati has 0% water territory; however, the nation consists of a series of atolls, which definitionally include an encircled lagoon. Therefore, there must be some non-zero percentage of the territory of Kiribati that is water. Perhaps someone more learned than I might correct this facially erroneous statement.--68.173.82.111 (talk) 01:28, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

The figure appears to come from the CIA World Factbook. Presumably it refers to fresh water. I agree it is confusing. It may be worth suggesting at Template talk:Infobox country that the field be retitled "Fresh water".-gadfium 06:32, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

It refers only to Fresh water. And it is not true, because, on Washington, there is a quite huge "Fresh water" lagoon. CIA is not well informed, as usual.--Enzino (talk) 16:38, 1 August 2010 (UTC)

Only country in all four hemispheres?

The Geography section includes the claim, "Kiribati is the only country in all four hemispheres." This cites a page on worldatlas.com, which does indeed make that claim. But the claim appears to be facially incorrect; I can find at least three other countries in all four hemispheres:

• United States: mostly in the northern and western hemispheres; part of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska in the eastern hemisphere; American Samoa in the southern hemisphere.
• United Kingdom: mainland is in the northern hemisphere and straddles the eastern and western hemispheres; also has some posessions in the southern hemisphere, such as the Falkland Islands
• France: Metropolitan France is in the northern hemisphere and straddles the eastern and western hemispheres; Réunion and Mayotte are in the southern hemisphere.

Note the case of France is particularly strong, as Réunion and Mayotte are Regions of France with the same status as the Regions in Metropolitan France and are not territorial or secondary in any way (as one might argue for American Samoa and the Falklands). If the statement were unsourced I'd just remove it, but since it's cited, should it be removed, or left in but qualified ("worldatlas.com claims that...")? Chuck (talk) 14:52, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

It makes sense to qualify the claim, but not by saying "worldatlas.com claims..." but by saying something along the lines of "...is the only country with contiguous territory in all four...". I'm not sure 'contiguous' is quite the right word here.-gadfium 22:07, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

The Falklands are not in the UK, and American Samoa is not in the US, but France works. — kwami (talk) 10:15, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

I am sure the intent of the claim is that Kiribati is the only country in all of: the northern AND western hemispheres, the northern AND eastern hemispheres, the southern AND western hemispheres, and the southern AND eastern hemispheres. In other words, Kiribati spreads into all four quadrants from 180° longitude and the equator. No part of France is in the southern AND western hemisphere. Shall I make this change? Hayttom (talk) 12:35, 21 July 2021 (UTC)

The Marquesas Islands are in the southern hemisphere AND the western hemisphere, and are part of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France, per their Wikipedia page. France is, like Kiribati, in all four cardinal hemispheres. I propose the Kiribati page should not claim it is the only country in all four cardinal hemispheres. 68.55.90.247 (talk) 00:06, 12 August 2021 (UTC)

Can we end up with some sort of combination of what Gadfium and Hayttom say? Boscaswell talk 09:17, 28 November 2021 (UTC)

Correction

The Telegraph article cited in this article was incorrect - I have fixed the first reference to this and deleted the second. I think this is just a necessary correction in an otherwise great article.--Obkiribati1 (talk) 04:15, 1 December 2012 (UTC)

Flora and Fauna?

There seems to be no mention about the flora and fauna of the islands. Being so isolated< I would expect them to have some endemic flora and fauna. 23.16.154.149 (talk) 01:16, 13 March 2013 (UTC)BeeCier

Added. Only one endemic land species of anything (a bird), and I doubt they have anything endemic from marine species. Materialscientist (talk) 06:37, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

What is happening to the islands

I do not know a lot about the topic, but it seems to me there is a difference between "climate change" and the islands "sinking". The former implies that sea level is rising, that storms are increasing, or the like. The latter suggests that the ground underneath the islands is receding, or falling in elevation. These are different phenomena.

I do not know which, if either, is the problem, or if the islands have more than one problem. But most objective students of the "climate change" issue seem to believe that although climate does change in response to solar cycles, there is a political effort to suggest climate does change for other reasons which are the result of, or may be affected by, human activity. This theory may have been developed to support the development of centralized control of broad areas of human activity previously seen as not subject to governmental interference. To support the theory, climate change computer models were developed, purporting to show that climate change would result if human activity were to continue unregulated, and drawing an inference that the expected climate change would result in adverse human consequences. Some or all of the "scientific" work believed to undergird the conclusions purported to result from the computer model has now been acknowledged to be fraudulent by the "scientists" involved in the project, and the financial support for their efforts is in question. The computer models themselves have been demonstrated to be of questionable value, as they apparently work poorly in explaining existing phenomena. Although the UN continues to support the concept, there seems to be significant disagreement whether there is sufficient understanding of "climate change" to justify regulation of human activity based upon facts which are so poorly understood, and the motives of the parties are in question. In this environment, it seems inappropriate to reference "climate change" in this piece without a more precise definition of the problem, especially if it is also appropriate to mention the "sinking" of the islands.

What politicians in Kiribati, or elsewhere, may have to say about the situation is their business; their positions are necessarily a response to concerns of the electorate in Kiribati. It is not clear, however, that Wikipedia need respond to those concerns; a mere statement of known real scientific facts and open questions seems more appropriate.

As I am not sufficiently knowledgeable as to the facts of the situation in Kiribati, I offer only these suggestions which I suspect might improve the article on Kiribati; I leave it to others better qualified to actually edit the piece.68.187.35.4 (talk) 09:14, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Despite paranoia among some of the ignorant, it is clearly human-induced global warming that is the problem. — kwami (talk) 10:19, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

Misleading section: Geography: may not inundate

The article states, "However, sea-level rise may not necessarily inundate Kiribati." It goes on to cite increases in area as evidence of this. However, the source quoted specifically says:

"This study did not measure vertical growth of the island surface nor does it suggest there is any change in the height of the islands. Since land height has not changed the vulnerability of the greater part of the land area of each island to submergence due to sea level rise is also unchanged and these low-lying atolls remain immediately and extremely vulnerable to inundation or sea water flooding." (Emphasis added.)

Land may be accreting while the atoll remains above sea level but this is meaningless once sea level is greater than the island's surface. Editors of the article appear to have conveniently overlooked this here and probably elsewhere I suspect. Waerloeg (talk) 08:34, 8 August 2014 (UTC)

Official name of the country?

Our article currently says that the official name of the country is "Independent and Sovereign Republic of Kiribati", according to a source I had never found myself, archontology.org, "last updated on: 26 Jun 2009".

However, the CIA country profile page, which is usually very precise, lists Kiribati's official name ("conventional long form") as being "Republic of Kiribati": https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/kr.html

Also the European Union, which keeps tracks of all countries' official names, long and short forms, name changes and so forth, says Kiribati is called Republic of Kiribati, nothing more: http://publications.europa.eu/code/en/en-5000500.htm#fn-md*

Should we change the name of the country accordingly? MissionFix (talk) 13:08, 28 February 2015 (UTC)

Update: the official name is also given as "The Republic of Kiribati" only in the BBC countries profile ( http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-16431215 ), and it is also the full name used by its Government ( "Diplomatic Notes exchanged between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Kiribati": https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/China_Kiribati_Notes_Establishing_Diplomatic_Relations )

Hence, I will update the article.MissionFix (talk) 13:14, 28 February 2015 (UTC)

Capital of Kiribati

The capital of Kiribati is not :

• Bairiki: this is an islet, next to Betio islet (the former administrative center until it was destroyed by Japanese) where there are the main ministries (and presidency). And main Post office. But the Parliament is now on Ambo islet, quite far away. And some ministries are on Betio or Bikenibeu. And even one on Kiritimati (or Christmas Island).

• Tarawa : this is the name of all the atoll.

But South Tarawa: from Bairiki to Bonriki, there is one Urban Council, its name is Teinainano Urban Council or TUC. The translation means, the South Branch (of Tarawa). This council is not in the Bairiki islet.

on South Tarawa, it says south tarawa is the official capital of the Republic of Kiribati on Tarawa Atoll. If it's true, is it better write the capital South Tarawa instead of Tarawa?

"The capital of Kiribati is Tarawa, an atoll in the Gilbert Islands. Bairiki, an islet of Tarawa, serves as an administrative center." http://www.kiribatitourism.gov.ki/index.php/aboutkiribati/aboutkiribatioverview Holy (talk) 22:27, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

Tarawa article has it as an atoll with South Tarawa as a city. Sarcelles (talk) 09:54, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Right, but there is no rule that says that a capital must be a city; it must as well be a state, a department, a village, anything. And, according to Kiribati's gov sites themselves, the capital of Kiribati is just Tarawa, not "South Tarawa": http://www.kiribatitourism.gov.ki/index.php/aboutkiribati/aboutkiribatioverview Hence, I will make the change in the main article. MissionFix (talk) 00:17, 8 March 2015 (UTC)

I do not agree with this move. Tarawa is an atoll, not a city or a town. It is divided in 2 areas, South Tarawa and North Tarawa (rural). Many sources say that the capital is only South Tarawa and the Kiribati Tourism is not a good source.--RotachZ (talk) 08:16, 23 April 2021 (UTC)

For example the Office of te Beretitenti (President Office) has published monographies on each part of Kiribati, "South Tarawa" (2012)n here (http://www.climate.gov.ki/about-kiribati/island-reports-2012/south-tarawa/ South Tarawa], writing clearly that South Tarawa is the capital of the Republic.--RotachZ (talk) 11:07, 23 April 2021 (UTC)

"2. PHYSICAL FEATURES : South Tarawa is the strip of land that stretches from Betio islet to Buota1 village on Tarawa. It is the seat of the capital and hub of the Republic of Kiribati. Most of the island is less than 3 meters above sea level with an average width of only 450 meters. The main villages are Betio, Bairiki, and Bikenibeu. The whole of South Tarawa is linked by causeways, the longest being the Dai Nippon Causeway between Betio and Bairiki." (Office of te Beretitenti, 2012).--RotachZ (talk) 11:09, 23 April 2021 (UTC)

Inconsistency in pronunciation guide

The opening sentence gives the first pronunciation in two different pronunciation schemes as /ˌkɪrɪˈbæs/; KEER-ə-bahss . But these are inconsistent with each other in two ways: which syllable has the primary stress, and how the last vowel is pronounced. Whichever is wrong should be corrected, or if each is valid then each should be given in both pronunciation schemes. Loraof (talk) 21:05, 2 November 2015 (UTC)

Millennium

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it somewhat of a big deal that Kiribati was the first country to greet the new millennium?74.15.53.36 (talk) 05:22, 22 March 2016 (UTC)

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• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20130502054002/http://www.cawcr.gov.au/projects/PCCSP/pdf/posters2011/4.Kiribati_GH_poster.pdf to http://www.cawcr.gov.au/projects/PCCSP/pdf/posters2011/4.Kiribati_GH_poster.pdf
• Added {{dead link}} tag to http://www.usp.ac.fj/fileadmin/random%20images/home%20middle%20banners/emalus/Pacific%20law%20materials/Western%20Pacific/11.%20Western%20Pacific%20Order%20in%20Council%201877.PDF
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090506023409/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/world-leaders-k/kiribati.html to https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/world-leaders-k/kiribati.html

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External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 3 external links on Kiribati. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100626072239/http://www.kiribatitourism.gov.ki/index.php/aboutkiribati/aboutkiribatioverview to http://www.kiribatitourism.gov.ki/index.php/aboutkiribati/aboutkiribatioverview
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20170108172952/http://www.mfed.gov.ki/statistics/ to http://www.mfed.gov.ki/statistics/
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20130423023949/http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/kiribati-a-nation-going-under/590/ to http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/kiribati-a-nation-going-under/590/

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Why a separate article on the outline of Kiribati?

Why is there a separate article on the outline of Kiribati? The main thing I see there that is not in this article is that excellent map showing the outline of the nation’s islands and the other island near Kiribati. Could that map be incorporated into this article, and the other article deleted as a duplication?

I put the list of towns and villages on the island in the See also list, though it might be part of the article, to see the list article and say what there is if interest about some of the villages here. I became curious about this island nation because of a perhaps false image showing that both London and Paris are names of villages in Kiribati. I find London in the list, but not Paris. I added a few citations to replace citation needed flags after finding the pertinent articles on line, pertaining to the Japanese space port. What an interesting nation this is, from pronunciation of the name, to the dateline issues, to its low altitude above sea level. —Prairieplant (talk) 23:50, 28 April 2018 (UTC) Prairieplant (talk) 23:50, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

Nomination of Portal:Kiribati for deletion

A discussion is taking place as to whether Portal:Kiribati is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The page will be discussed at Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Portal:Kiribati until a consensus is reached, and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the page during the discussion, including to improve the page to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the deletion notice from the top of the page. North America¹⁰⁰⁰ 05:48, 6 June 2019 (UTC)

Proposed edits

1. The country name "kiribati" is never pronounced as it is spelled in English. "ti" here is pronounced "s". The pronunciation section should be changed and this fact should be so stated.

2. The International Date Line used to run through the middle of the country, creating difficulties; this was changed in 1994 (see International Date Line#Eastern Kiribati (1994)).

Source: GeoBee Virtual Celebration, Apr 17, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mKm2C7zTnU .

David Spector (talk) 16:19, 1 May 2020 (UTC)

Removing the unverified claims maintenance template tag

It seems like the article is quite well cited now, and I could not find any places with a {{fact}} template or otherwise, so I'm thinking of removing it. Unless someone has an objection to this within the next few weeks, I'll remove the maintenance template tag. Getsnoopy (talk) 17:59, 27 July 2020 (UTC)

it is ok 👍🏼 with me.-Arorae (talk) 18:01, 27 July 2020 (UTC)

Removed the tag given no opposition to it after about a month. Getsnoopy (talk) 16:41, 23 August 2020 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 25 August 2020

In the Geography part, the first paragraph says "it straddles three geographic subregions; Banaba (Melanesian-Micronesian area), the Gilbert Islands (Micronesia) and the Line and Phoenix Islands (Polynesia)".

On https://www.kiribatitourism.gov.ki/kiribati-pacific-ocean-location/ under "The Country & Geographic Location" it states "It is part of the division of the Pacific islands that is known as Micronesia."

The sentence from the .gov website states that Kiribati is only part of one region, being Micronesia, while what is currently on the wiki page says that Kiribati is part of all 3 regions.

"it straddles three geographic subregions; Banaba (Melanesian-Micronesian area), the Gilbert Islands (Micronesia) and the Line and Phoenix Islands (Polynesia)" should be changed to something along the lines of "Kiribati is part of the Micronesia region" I-Adore-Pandas (talk) 04:43, 25 August 2020 (UTC)

The site of Visit Kiribati is not accurate. Micronesia region is a subarea invented by the French geographer Dumont d’Urville in 1831 (he divided Oceania in 4 parts on the basis of ethnicity and colour skin). The problem is that Pacific Ocean is a Sea where subdivisions are uneasy and there was no genetics in 1831 to validate the racial ideas of Dumont d’Urville. For example, Melanesia doesn’t exist on the basis of ethnicity and linguistics and Micronesia is not a solid subdivision too. The new concepts of Remote Oceania and Near Oceania are more praised by scientists now. Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia are the traditional ones. But science doesn’t use them anymore, to gather peoples and islands with few in common. Writing that “Kiribati is part of Micronesia region” is incorrect because the Line Islands part of Kiribati have traditionally never be put into “Micronesia”.--Arorae (talk) 07:31, 25 August 2020 (UTC)

ok, I agree with that. But now I have a follow-up request. I cannot find anywhere that Banaba is part of Melanesia. I cannot find any creditable sources. So shouldn't the wiki page say that Kiribati is only in 2 regions, not 3? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2405:6E00:2ECC:C800:7CE6:FB19:B59E:2828 (talk) 02:47, 26 August 2020 (UTC)

According to Te Rii ni Banaba, Banaba originated from Melanesia. Check out the book here. KRtau16 (talk) 04:20, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

Very dear @KRtau16:, the book Te Rii ni Banaba is not a good book about ethnicity and linguistics. He tells stories that are not true and if it could be interesting to read, it is written by an author who has few knowledge on historic matters but on mythology and "secret" stories. Above all there is nothing that you could describe as « Melanesian » in the Pacific. This ethnicity doesn’t make sense.-Arorae (talk) 07:42, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

@Arorae and KRtau16: I have opened a discussion about the last topic in Talk:Banaba#Sigrah & King (2001). @Arorae, I see you have a very good insight about sources on Kiribati (my knowledge is limited to linguistic sources), so I am sure you can help out here. –Austronesier (talk) 10:14, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

Look, different websites and books are saying different things about which region(s) Kiribati is located in. Is there an official government document that says what area each region takes up and where each country (such as Kiribati) resides in? — Preceding unsigned comment added by I-Adore-Pandas (talk • contribs) 11:43, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

your question (unsigned !) it is just a proof that you have a quite bad idea of what means Modern geography: there is no official paper that will never say where precisely Kiribati belongs to. Especially if you refer only to subregions that existed only in 1831, in the mind of a (racist) biased French geographer.--Arorae (talk) 12:00, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

 Note: This article is no longer Semi-Protected, so you can now edit the article yourself, but please ensure that any additions are properly sourced, to reliable sources and you maintain a neutral point of view - Arjayay (talk) 17:23, 31 August 2020 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

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Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 23:19, 10 February 2021 (UTC)