The Republic of Kiribati (pronounced "keer-ih-bahs") includes 33 coral atolls scattered across a vast stretch of the central Pacific Ocean. It includes all or part of three groups of islands. In the west is the former British colony known as the Gilbert Islands. The Phoenix Islands are in the central part of the country and the Line Islands lie to the east. Many of the atolls of the Phoenix and Line Islands were formerly claimed by both Britain and the United States, and those two countries administered several of them jointly until Kiribati was granted its independence in 1979. In September of that year, in the Treaty of Tarawa, the U.S. acknowledged the sovereignty of Kiribati over 14 islands formerly claimed by the United States, including Kanton (Canton) and Enderbury Islands. The total population of Kiribati is about 120,000. More than half of the population lives on the Tarawa atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and South Tarawa is the capital of the country. The United States retains ownership of five atolls and islands on the northern edge of Kiribati: Howland and Baker Islands in the Phoenix Islands and Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll, and Jarvis Island in the Line Islands. Lighthouses of these islands are listed on the U.S. Pacific Remote Islands page. The Kiribati Port Authority maintains navigational aids at Tarawa and at Christmas Island (Kiritimati) in the Phoenix group.. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volumes K and M of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 111.
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![]() Greig Memorial, Tabuaeran, August 2004 photo copyright Beth Poltis; used by permission |
Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: U.S. Pacific Remote Islands | West: Marshall Islands
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Posted August 28, 2005. Checked and revised September 18, 2024. Lighthouses: 6. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.