[30][note 1][31] The area now called Kiribati has been inhabited by Austronesian peoples speaking the same Oceanic language, from north to south, including the southernmost Nui, since sometime between 3000 BC[29] and 1300 AD.

[33][34] Local oral historians chiefly in the form of lore keepers suggest that the area was first inhabited by a group of seafaring people from Melanesia, who were described as being dark-skinned, frizzy-haired, and short in stature.

[citation needed] Around AD 1300, a mass departure occurred from Samoa leading to the addition of Polynesian ancestry into the mix of most Gilbertese people.

[22] The typical military arms of the I-Kiribati at this time were shark tooth-embedded wooden spears, knives, and swords, and garbs of armour fashioned from dense coconut fibre.

[51] In 1913, an anonymous correspondent to The New Age newspaper described the maladministration of W. Telfer Campbell and challenged the impartiality of Arthur Mahaffy, because he was a former colonial official in the Gilberts.

[60] Then, in September, the United States relinquished all claims to the sparsely inhabited Phoenix and Line Islands, in a 1979 treaty of friendship with Kiribati (ratified in 1983).

Kiribati reported that it remained essentially COVID-free (two cases) until January 2022 when the first commercial international flight in two years included 36 passengers who tested positive.

[86] In November 1999, Kiribati agreed to allow Japan's National Space Development Agency to lease land on Kiritimati (formerly Christmas Island) for 20 years, on which to build a spaceport.

[87] A Japanese-built downrange tracking station operates on Kiritimati[88] and an abandoned airfield on the island was designated as the landing strip for a proposed reusable unmanned space shuttle called HOPE-X.

[89] As one of the world's most vulnerable nations to the effects of global warming, Kiribati has been an active participant in international diplomatic efforts relating to climate change, most importantly the UNFCCC conferences of the parties (COP).

Established in 1990, the main purpose of the alliance is to consolidate the voices of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to address global warming.

[101][102] In July 2022, US Vice President Harris announced plans to build a new embassy in Kiribati and Tonga and reestablish the Peace Corps presence in the region.

[110][111] The rest of the land in Kiribati consists of the sand and reef rock islets of atolls or coral islands, which rise only one or two meters above sea level.

However, if the increase in sea level occurs at a rate faster than coral growth, or if polyp activity is damaged by ocean acidification, then the resilience of the atolls and reef islands is less certain.

[129] The issue of plastic pollution has also been a key challenge for Kiribati as it hurts both its marine biodiversity and its economy that relies primarily on tourism and fishery.

[citation needed] The fair season starts when Ten Rimwimata (Antares) appears in the sky after sunset, from May to November, when more gentle winds and currents and less rain.

[136] Coconut, pandanus palms and breadfruit trees are the most common wild plants,[137][33] whereas the five most cultivated crops but the traditional Babai, Cyrtosperma merkusii,[138] are imported Chinese cabbage, pumpkin, tomato, watermelon and cucumber.

Given Kiribati's limited domestic production ability, it must import nearly all of its essential foodstuffs and manufactured items; it depends on these external sources of income for financing.

The Coral Sun Airways airline flies from Bonriki international airport to the islands of Abaing, Abermama, Aranuka, Arorae, Beru, Butaritari, Kuria, Makin, Marakei, Onotoa, Nonouti, Nikunau, Tabitevea & Tamana.

Radio Kiribati, based on Tarawa and operated by the government's Broadcasting and Publications Authority (BPA) on 1440 kHz AM, is the only form of mass media that reaches all the major islands.

[157][158] Inter-island communications for many years relied on a centralized shortwave radio network operated by Telecom Services Kiribati, Ltd (TSKL) based in each Island's Council Headquarters.

The undersea fiberoptic system, which would have originated in Guam, was "designed to improve the communications in the island nations of Nauru, Kiribati and Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).

[172] Many other loanwords have been adopted (like buun, spoon, moko, smoke, beeki, pig, batoro, bottle) but some typical Gilbertese words are quite common, even for European objects (like wanikiba, plane – the flying canoe, rebwerebwe, motorbike – for the motor noise, kauniwae, shoes – the cow for the feet).

[citation needed] Christianity is the major religion in Kiribati, having been lately introduced by missionaries, because of its remoteness and the absence of any significant European presence until the latter half of the 19th century.

[180] Most health problems are related to consumption of semi-raw seafood, limited food storage facilities, and bacterial contamination of fresh water supplies.

Modernization and cross-cultural exchange of the late 20th century brought new issues of unhealthy diet and lifestyle, heavy smoking, especially among the young, and external infections, including HIV/AIDS.

[184] Kiribati falls into the "very bad" category when evaluating the right to reproductive health because the government is fulfilling only 45.5% of what the country is expected to achieve based on the resources (income) it has available.

[citation needed] The uniqueness of Kiribati when compared with other forms of Pacific island dance is its emphasis on the outstretched arms of the dancer and the sudden birdlike movement of the head.

[195] Edward Carlyon Eliot, who was Resident Commissioner of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands (now Kiribati and Tuvalu) from 1913 to 1920, describes this period in his autobiography Broken Atoms.

Cronache illustrate da una terra (s)perduta, (2016) Milan: 24 ORE Cultura, also translated into French (2018, éditions du Rouergue), tries to write and portray a comprehensive encyclopaedic book of modern Kiribati.