Frigatebird
The great frigatebird soars over Kiribati's atolls for hours without flapping, using rising air currents to stay aloft while hunting fish near the surface.
Flag of Kiribati
Field Report
Kiribati is a small island nation sitting right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, straddling the equator halfway between Hawaii and Australia. It is made up of 33 low, flat coral islands so spread out that flying from one end of the country to the other takes about as long as flying across the United States. Around 120,000 people called I-Kiribati live there, fishing the lagoons and tending gardens on some of the most remote land on the planet.
From the Field Notebook
Frigatebird
The great frigatebird soars over Kiribati's atolls for hours without flapping, using rising air currents to stay aloft while hunting fish near the surface.
Green Sea Turtle
Green sea turtles nest on the sandy beaches of Kiribati's remote islands, and local people have long known them as an important part of the ocean world around them.
Manta Ray
Manta rays glide through the warm lagoons of Kiribati like underwater kites, feeding on tiny plankton they scoop up as they swim with their mouths wide open.
Babai
Babai is a starchy root vegetable grown in deep pit gardens on the atolls, and it has been a staple food for I-Kiribati families for generations.
Coconut toddy (kamaimai)
Kamaimai is a sweet sap collected from coconut flower buds each morning and drunk fresh, tasting something like a mild sugary juice.
Roasted breadfruit
Breadfruit is roasted directly over coals until the outside chars and the inside becomes soft and starchy, eaten warm as a filling everyday meal.
Kiribati is spread across 33 atolls and reef islands scattered over an area of ocean roughly the size of the continental United States, yet the total dry land is smaller than the city of Los Angeles.
Kiribati is the only country in the world that sits in all four hemispheres at once — parts of it lie north, south, east, and west of where the equator and the International Date Line cross.
The name 'Kiribati' is spelled with a 'ti' that is pronounced like 's' in the local Gilbertese language, so the country's name sounds like 'Kiribas.'
Some of Kiribati's islands rise only about two meters above sea level at their highest point, making them among the lowest-lying land on Earth.
Kiribati changed which side of the International Date Line it sits on in 1995 so that all its islands would share the same calendar day, making the far eastern islands the first places on Earth to welcome each new year.
Daily Life
66
Years life expectancy
99%
Can read and write
95%
Kids go to school
Missions Field Report
Nearly all Kiribati's people follow Christianity (98.4%). Evangelical Christians make up about 8.6% of the population.
What People Believe
Prayer Journal
Tick each one as you pray. God hears every word.