There are just some
countries that are more known than others. This one gained its independence the
year I was born. However, we’re both about as equally known. (Ok, maybe
Kiribati has a slight leg up on me.) Regardless, many people—and especially
Americans—have barely heard of this country, much less even know what side of
the world it is in. Heck, even I had to look up the correct way to pronounce it
(it’s “KEER-uh-bahss” if you were wondering). And because of this, it’s one of
the few countries that have given me trouble in finding information about its
culture and recipes. It’s the second country I have had trouble finding a bread
recipe for (Bhutan was the other). On the other hand, essentially everything I
learned about this country was new information.
The name Kiribati
is their local pronunciation of the word Gilberts, which is what the British named
these islands when they controlled the island group. (The “ti” sounds like “s”
in the local language.) Kiribati is located in the South Pacific (or sometimes
called Oceanea). It consists of 33 atolls (ring-shaped islands usually made of
reef or coral) and reef islands and one raised coral island (the island of
Banaba is the only true island in this country). The islands of Western Samoa,
American Samoa, Fiji, Tonga are to the south; Tuvalu and Vanuatu are to the southwest;
Nauru is to the west; Federated States of Micronesia and Marshall Islands are
to the northwest. And the Line Islands (the eastern end of Kiribati) are a
little over 1300 miles due south of the Hawaiian Islands. The equator and the
International Date Line runs through Kiribati, even though they petitioned to
have the date line moved so that the Line Islands can be on the same date as
the rest of the country (the Phoenix Islands and the Gilbert Islands ). They enjoy a tropical climate with a rainy season
between November and March and a dry season between April and October. Because
of the soil makeup, there are limitations on the numbers and kinds of plants
and animals that live here.
Originally, the
people living on these islands were Micronesians who had explored eastward and
settled here. Other islands in this area (Fiji, Tonga, etc.) also moved (rather,
invaded) this area as well. Eventually, they stopped fighting each other and
had makeup intermarriage, and after centuries of this, the ethnicity of all of
these island groups began to merge. Europeans had major explorations throughout
the 17th and 18th centuries, and several of these ships
happened to sail past these islands by chance and just stayed. The British
eventually took control of these islands and named them the Gilbert Islands
after the British captain, Thomas Gilbert. They in turn added in more islands
to their holdings, and it became the Gilbert & Ellice Islands as it
advanced to crown colony level. (The Ellice Islands became Tuvalu a year before
Kiribati gained its independence.) Early during WWII, the Japanese occupied the
Tarawa Atoll until the US Marines arrived and told them to get out (more or
less, with the only way they knew how to). During the 1950s and 1960s, the US
and UK used Christmas Island (also spelled Kiritimati—remember “ti” says “s” in
the Gilbertese language) as a testing grounds for nuclear weapons. In July 1979
(a few months before I was born), the Gilbert Islands gained their independence
and became known as the Republic of Kiribati to the rest of the world. The
people became known as the I-Kiribati. About ten years into their independence,
they began to address problems of overcrowding by making people move to other
lesser-populated islands. In recent years, the government of Kiribati has been
quite vocal about the effects of climate change, especially since two islands
were lost in 1999 due to rising sea levels. In fact, they have even started
asking other nearby countries to accept their people as refugees due to climate
change. Some climate scientists predict that the island nation could be
swallowed by the sea within the next 60 years. Other people aren’t so sure on the timeline.
It’s certainly a cause for debate. But if you doubt climate change, talk to some of the people who are directly impacted by its effects here.
The capital is
located on the Tarawa Atoll, most widely known for the Battle of Tarawa during
WWII, which left over 6000 Japanese and Americans dead at the end of the day. Essentially,
the island is divided between South Tarawa and North Tarawa. Causeways have
been built to get between the islets. The actual governmental buildings are
located on South Tarawa, along with other vital business, financial, and the
few higher educational institutions they do have.
Kiribati’s soil
makeup along with the fact that the country is made of reef islands means there
are very few natural resources and is thus one of the poorest countries in the
world. It’s also one of the least developed. There is an important fishing
industry that keeps Kiribati’s economy alive along with some tourism dollars
added in there. They also depend of some minor agricultural production as well,
mostly in copra, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, taro, and various vegetables. However,
the country has to depend quite a bit on developmental assistance from other
countries and organizations.
Because Kiribati
was controlled by the British for so long, the dominant religion is Roman
Catholicism, although the Kiribati Uniting Church maintains a fairly
substantial number of practitioners. You’ll also find a number of Protestant
faiths as well as Bahá’í and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
English is listed
as an official language along with the local dialect called Gilbertese (which is written in Roman letters). English
is pretty much only used on the largest island of Tarawa and often used as part
of code mixing (mixing the two languages) on the other islands. Gilbertese is
interesting to me because it is a verb-object-subject language (in comparison,
English and Romance languages are subject-verb-object languages.) There are
only a few other languages who fall in this category, namely Malagasy (spoken
on Madagascar and Comoros), a few languages in Indonesia, Fijian, and Mayan
languages. There are actually Gilbertese speakers not only in Kiribati but also
on Fiji, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.
I have a feeling
this country is going to be a challenge just because there is limited
information on some of the things larger countries have readily available.
Like, by now I usually have found at least one or two albums to put in my
Spotify playlist. But not so for Kiribati. I have nothing there. Usually, I
have been able to find at least one recipe for a bread or cake or pastry or
even a mention of this. But not so for Kiribati. (I had to expand out to
Micronesia since many I-Kiribati are ethnically Micronesian. And I’m still
surprised that for a country that was controlled by the British for so long
that there are no bread, cake, or pastry recipes posted online anywhere? I’m
still looking, but still… Sheesh.) So, it will certainly be a research
challenge, but I’m up for it but have my backups ready.
Up next: art and
literature
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