Editing Kiribati (section)

==History==
{{main|History of Kiribati}}
[[File:Tabiteuean warriors of the Gilberts Islands, about 1840.png|thumb|Gilbertese warriors of [[Tabiteuea]], with [[Leiomano|shark's teeth weapons]], {{circa|1841}}]]

=== Early history ===
The area now called Kiribati has been inhabited by [[Austronesian peoples]] speaking the same [[Oceanic languages|Oceanic language]], from north to south, including the southernmost [[Nui (atoll)|Nui]], since sometime between 3000&nbsp;BC<ref name=cind>Macdonald, Barrie (2001) ''Cinderellas of the Empire: towards a history of Kiribati and Tuvalu'', Institute of Pacific Studies, [[University of the South Pacific]], Suva, Fiji, {{ISBN|982-02-0335-X}}, p. 1</ref> and 1300&nbsp;AD.{{sfn|Thomas|2003|p=5}} The area was not completely isolated; later, voyagers from [[Samoa]], [[Tonga]], and [[Fiji]] introduced some [[Polynesia]]n and [[Melanesia]]n cultural aspects, respectively. Intermarriage and intense navigation between the islands tended to blur cultural differences and resulted in a significant degree of cultural homogenization.<ref name=brit/><ref>{{cite web |title=Background Note: Kiribati |url=http://www.mfep.gov.ki/Facts%20and%20Background.htm |website=Ministry of Finance and Economic Development |access-date=23 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014051525/http://www.mfep.gov.ki/Facts%20and%20Background.htm |archive-date=14 October 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 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. These [[indigenous peoples]] were then visited by early [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] seafarers from the west, a place called Matang, orally described as being tall and fair-skinned. 
[[Image:Makin Islander.jpg|thumb|Portrait of a native of the [[Makin (islands)|Makin]] Islands, drawn by [[Alfred Thomas Agate]] (1841)]]

Around AD 1300, a mass departure occurred from [[Samoa]] leading to the addition of Polynesian ancestry into the mix of most Gilbertese people.<ref>{{cite web |title=DNA offers a new look at how Polynesia was settled |url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/dna-genetics-how-polynesia-settled-migration-islands-pacific-ocean |website=ScienceNews |language=en |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Study gives Polynesia migrations new timelines |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/194538/study-gives-polynesia-migrations-new-timelinesn |website=rnz.co.nz |language=en |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Evolutionary history of modern Samoans |url=https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7196816/ |website=National Library of Medecine |language=en |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref> These Samoans later brought strong features of [[Polynesian languages]] and culture, creating clans based on their own Samoan traditions and slowly intertwining with the indigenous clans and powers already dominant in Kiribati. 

Around the 15th century, starkly contrasting systems of governance arose between the northern islands, primarily under chiefly rule (''uea''), and the central and southern islands, primarily under the rule of their council of elders (''unimwaane''). [[Tabiteuea]] could be an exception as the sole island that is known as maintaining a traditional [[Egalitarianism|egalitarian]] society.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tabiteuea Island |url=https://www.kiribatitourism.gov.ki/islands-to-explore/tabiteuea-island/ |website=kiribatitourism.gov.ki |language=en |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Tabiteuea North: its Social and Economic Organisation |url=https://ir.wgtn.ac.nz/items/7f332ba9-c7b3-4ed4-b00c-1a2a3409a418 |website=Victoria University of Wellington |language=en |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref>  

The name Tabiteuea stems from the root phrase ''Tabu-te-Uea'', meaning "chiefs are forbidden".<ref>But the organization of the political decisions was far more complex as described by Jean-Paul Latouche, in ''Qui veut prendre la parole ?'' (2003) by [[Marcel Detienne]].</ref> Civil war soon became a factor, with acquisition of land being the main form of conquest. Clans and chiefs began fighting over resources, stimulated by hatred and reignited blood feuds, which had their origins months, years, or even decades before.
The turmoil lasted well into the European visitation and colonial era, which led to certain islands decimating their foes with the help of guns and cannon-equipped ships that Europeans provided to some I-Kiribati leaders.<ref name="jps.auckland.ac.nz"/> 

The typical military arms of the I-Kiribati at this time were shark tooth-embedded wooden spears,<ref>{{cite web |title=At Harms Length: Shark Tooth Spears of the Gilbert Islands |url=https://www.bowers.org/index.php/collections-blog/at-harms-length-shark-tooth-spears-of-the-gilbert-islands |website=bowers.og |language=en |date=16 May 2019 |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref> knives, and swords, and garbs of armour fashioned from dense coconut fibre.<ref>{{cite web |title=The art of armour in Kiribati |url=https://www.fg-art.org/en/artwork-of-the-month-archives/the-art-of-armour-in-kiribati |website=fg-art.org |language=en |date=November 2020 |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref> They chiefly used these instead of the gunpowder and weapons of steel available at the time, because of the strong sentimental value of the equipment handed down through generations. Ranged weapons, such as bows, slings, and javelins, were seldom used; [[Culture of Kiribati#Kiribati traditional martial arts|hand-to-hand combat]] was a prominent skill still practised today, though seldom mentioned because of various taboos associated with it, secrecy being the primary one. [[Abemama]]'s High Chief [[Tembinok']] was the last of the dozens of expansionist chiefs of Gilbert Islands of this period,<ref>{{cite web |title=In Their Words: History and Society in Gilbertese Oral Tradition |url=https://fr.scribd.com/document/687185479/21221 |author=Kambati K. Urian |website=bowers.og |language=en |date=1995 |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref> despite Abemama historically conforming to the traditional southern islands' governance of their respective ''unimwaane''. He was immortalised in [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s book ''In the South Seas'', which delved into the high chief's character and method of rule during Stevenson's stay in Abemama. The 90th anniversary of his arrival in the Gilbert Islands was chosen to celebrate the independence of Kiribati on 12 July 1979.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/464/464-h/464-h.htm|title = In the South Seas, by Robert Louis Stevenson}}</ref>

===Colonial era===
{{Main|British Western Pacific Territories|Gilbert and Ellice Islands}}

Chance visits by European ships occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries,<ref>{{cite journal|last1= Maude|first1= H. E.|last2= Heyen|first2= G. H.|year= 1959|title= Spanish Discoveries in the Central Pacific: A Study in Identification|journal= The Journal of the Polynesian Society|volume= 68|issue= 4|pages= 285–326|url= http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_68_1959/Volume_68,_No._4/Spanish_discoveries_in_the_Pacific,_by_H._E._Maude,_p_285-326/p1|access-date= 27 February 2015|archive-date= 8 December 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211208024508/http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_68_1959/Volume_68,_No._4/Spanish_discoveries_in_the_Pacific,_by_H._E._Maude,_p_285-326/p1|url-status= dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Maude|first=H. E.|year=1961|title=Post-Spanish Discoveries in the Central Pacific|journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society|volume=70|issue=1|url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_70_1961/Volume_70,_No._1/Post-Spanish_discoveries_in_the_central_Pacific,_by_H._E._Maude,_p_67-111/p1|pages=67–111|access-date=27 February 2015|archive-date=27 December 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211227235057/http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_70_1961/Volume_70,_No._1/Post-Spanish_discoveries_in_the_central_Pacific,_by_H._E._Maude,_p_67-111/p1|url-status=dead}}</ref> while those ships attempted circumnavigations of the world, or sought sailing routes from the south to north Pacific Ocean, a passing trade, whaling the On-The-Line grounds,<ref>{{Cite journal |author=Lever R.J.A.W. |date=April 1964 |journal=South Pacific Bulletin |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=33–36 |url=https://spccfpstore1.blob.core.windows.net/digitallibrary-docs/files/1a/1ac948972f523b26359f2d23693d2a69.pdf?sv=2015-12-11&sr=b&sig=e%2BiGKv891HWj4Rk6E2BEhTX4gfkUKDsOwIKeCJA%2FFXQ%3D&se=2021-01-25T00%3A32%3A52Z&sp=r&rscc=public%2C%20max-age%3D864000%2C%20max-stale%3D86400&rsct=application%2Fpdf&rscd=inline%3B%20filename%3D%22SPB14_2_Lever.pdf%22 |title=Whales and Whaling in the Western Pacific |access-date=30 March 2022 |archive-date=23 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923054026/https://spccfpstore1.blob.core.windows.net/digitallibrary-docs/files/1a/1ac948972f523b26359f2d23693d2a69.pdf?sv=2015-12-11&sr=b&sig=e%2BiGKv891HWj4Rk6E2BEhTX4gfkUKDsOwIKeCJA%2FFXQ%3D&se=2021-01-25T00%3A32%3A52Z&sp=r&rscc=public%2C%20max-age%3D864000%2C%20max-stale%3D86400&rsct=application%2Fpdf&rscd=inline%3B%20filename%3D%22SPB14_2_Lever.pdf%22 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Best |first= P. B. |year=1983|title=Sperm whale stock assessments and the relevance of historical whaling records|journal=Report of the International Whaling Commission |volume=Special Issue 5|pages= 41–55}}</ref> and labour ships associated with the coercive labour recruitment practices, known as [[blackbirding]]. This recruitment of [[Kanaka (Pacific Island worker)|Kanaka]] workers in large numbers during the 19th century, had social, economic, political, religious and cultural consequences. More than 9,000 workers were sent abroad from 1845 to 1895, most of them not returning.<ref name=cind/><ref>{{cite report |last1=Geddes |first1=W. H. |last2=Chambers |first2=A. |last3=Sewell |first3=B. |last4=Lawrence |first4=R. |last5=Watters |first5=R. |title=Islands on the line: team report |year=1982 |series=Atoll economy : social change in Kiribati and Tuvalu, no. 1 |publisher=Australian National University |location=Canberra }}</ref>

The passing trade gave rise to European, Indian, Chinese, Samoan, and other residents from the 1830s; they included [[beachcombing|beachcombers]], castaways,<ref name="maude">H. E. Maude, ''Beachcombers and castaways'', The Journal of the Polynesian Society 73: 3 (1964) 254–293</ref><ref name="ICC">{{cite book |last1= Campbell|first1= Ian C.|title=Gone Native in Polynesia: Captivity Narratives and Experiences from the South Pacific|year=2014|publisher= Praeger |isbn = 978-0313307874 }}</ref><ref name="BC">{{cite book |last1= Milcairns|first1= Susanne Williams |title=Native Strangers: Beachcombers, Renegades and Castaways in the South Seas |year=2006|publisher= Penguin Books |location= Auckland}}</ref><ref name="RC">{{cite book |last1= Ralston|first1= Caroline|title=Native Strangers: Grass Huts and Warehouses: Pacific Beach Communities of the Nineteenth Century |year=2014|publisher= University of Queensland Press|isbn = 9781921902321 }}</ref> traders, and missionaries. Dr [[Hiram Bingham II]] of the [[American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions]] (ABCFM) arrived on [[Abaiang]] in 1857. The Roman Catholic faith was introduced on [[Nonouti]] around 1880 by 2 Gilbert islanders, Betero and Tiroi, who had become Christians in Tahiti. Father Joseph Leray, Father Edward Bontemps and Brother Conrad Weber, Roman Catholic [[Missionaries of the Sacred Heart]] arrived on Nonouti in 1888.<ref name="MKT">{{cite web |last= |work=Mauri – Kiribati, Tawara and Gilberts |title=Tourism Authority of Kiribati |date=2019 |url=https://visitkiribati.travel/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/4Tarawa-Guide-2019-final.pdf|access-date=30 March 2024}}</ref> The Protestant missionaries of the [[London Missionary Society]] (LMS) were also active in the southern Gilberts. On 15 October 1870, Rev. Samuel James Whitmee of the LMS arrived at [[Arorae]], and later that month he visited [[Tamana, Kiribati|Tamana]], [[Onotoa]] and [[Beru (atoll)|Beru]].<ref name="SJM">{{cite book |last=Whitmee |first=Samuel James |title=A missionary cruise in the South Pacific being the report of a voyage amongst the Tokelau, Ellice and Gilbert islands, in the missionary barque "John Williams" during 1870 |year=1871 |publisher=J. Cook & Co. |location=Sydney}}</ref> In August 1872, [[George Pratt (missionary)|George Pratt]] of the LMS visited the islands.<ref name="LMS">{{cite book |last=Lovett |first=Richard |title=The history of the London Missionary Society, 1795-1895 |volume=1 |year=1899 |publisher=H. Frowde |location=London}}</ref>
[[File:Declaration of a protectorate on Abemama by Captain Davis, 27th May 1892.JPG|thumb| Declaration of a protectorate on [[Abemama]] by Captain [[Edward H.M. Davis|EHM Davis]], 27 May 1892]]

In 1886, an [[Anglo-German Declarations about the Western Pacific Ocean|Anglo-German agreement]] partitioned the "unclaimed" central Pacific, leaving [[Nauru]] in the German sphere of influence, while [[Banaba]] (known to Europeans as Ocean Island) and the future GEIC wound up in the [[British Empire|British sphere of influence]]. In 1892, local Gilbertese authorities (an ''uea'', a chief from the Northern Gilbert Group, and ''atun te boti'' or head of clan<ref name="maude2">{{cite journal | last = Maude | first = H. E. | year = 1963|title = The Evolution of the Gilbertese ''Boti''|url = http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/?wid=3260 | journal = The Journal of the Polynesian Society|volume = 72|issue = Supplement Memoir No. 35 |pages = 1–68|access-date = 23 March 2019|archive-date = 27 January 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190127175542/http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/?wid=3260 | url-status = dead }}</ref>) on each of the Gilbert Islands agreed to Captain [[Edward H.M. Davis|Edward Davis]] commanding [[HMS Royalist (1883)|HMS ''Royalist'']] of the [[Royal Navy]] declaring them part of a [[British protectorate]], along with the nearby [[Ellice Islands]]. They were administered by a [[Governor of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands|resident commissioner]] based first on [[Butaritari|Makin Islands]] (1893–95), then in [[Betio]], [[Tarawa]] (1896–1908) and Banaba (1908–1942), protectorate who was under the [[High Commissioner for the Western Pacific|Western Pacific High Commission]] (WPHC) based in Fiji.<ref name=BBCtimeline>{{cite news |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/country_profiles/2944816.stm |title = BBC Timeline: Kiribati |access-date = 29 July 2008 |publisher = BBC News|date = 15 May 2008 }}</ref> Banaba was added to the protectorate in 1900, because of the [[Phosphorite|phosphate rock]] of its soil (discovered in 1900). [[Phosphate mining in Banaba and Nauru|This discovery and the mining]] provided a significant amount of revenue, in the form of taxes and duties, to the WPHC.<ref>{{cite web |title=Phosphate mining and the relocation of the Banabans to northern Fiji in 1945: Lessons for climate change-forced displacement |url=https://journals.openedition.org/jso/7100 |author=Julia B. Edwars |date=2014 |language=en,fr |access-date=10 May 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=With phosphate mining, the threat of displacement returns to Kiribati |url=https://www.mining-technology.com/features/with-phosphate-mining-the-threat-of-displacement-returns-to-kiribati/ |website=mining-technology.com |author=Ashima Sharma |date=November 22, 2023 |language=en |access-date=10 May 2025}}</ref>

The conduct of [[William Telfer Campbell]], the second resident commissioner of the Gilberts and Ellice Islands of 1896 to 1908, was criticised as to his legislative, judicial and administrative management (including allegations of forced labour exacted from islanders) and became the subject of the 1909 report by [[Arthur William Mahaffy|Arthur Mahaffy]].<ref>{{cite report |last=Mahaffy |first=Arthur |title=Report by Mr. Arthur Mahaffy on a visit to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands |access-date=26 July 2020 |year=1909 |publisher=His Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |chapter=CO 225/86/26804 |chapter-url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2367/}}</ref> 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.<ref name="AN">{{cite journal |title=Modern buccaneers in the West Pacific |url=http://dl.lib.brown.edu/pdfs/1140814207532014.pdf |journal=The New Age |location=South Africa |date=5 June 1913 |pages=136–140}}</ref> The anonymous correspondent also criticised the operations of the [[Pacific Phosphate Company]] on Banaba.<ref name="AN"/>
[[File:Boeing 314 Clipper in cruise.jpg|thumb|[[Boeing 314 Clipper]] in cruise, 1940]]

The islands became the [[crown colony]] of the [[Gilbert and Ellice Islands]] in 1916.<ref name=brit/> The Northern Line Islands, including Christmas Island ([[Kiritimati]]),<ref>[[Fanning Island]] (Tabuaeran) and [[Teraina]] (Washington Island) were previously incorporated in 1888 into the BWPT.</ref> were added to the colony in 1919, and the [[Phoenix Islands]] were added in 1937 with the purpose of a [[Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme]]. On 12 July 1940, [[Pan Am]] Airways' ''[[Boeing 314 Clipper|American Clipper]]'' landed at [[Kanton Island|Canton Island]] for the first time during a flight from [[Honolulu]] to [[Auckland]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.panam.org/explorations/650-canton-critical-stopover|title=Canton: Critical Stopover|access-date=27 July 2020|archive-date=27 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327000204/https://www.panam.org/explorations/650-canton-critical-stopover|url-status=dead}}</ref> Sir [[Arthur Grimble]] was a cadet administrative officer based at Tarawa (1913–1919) and became Resident Commissioner of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony in 1926.{{sfn|Grimble|1952}}

[[File:Stamp Gilbert Ellice Islands 1939 3p.jpg|thumb|Stamp with portrait of [[George VI|King George VI]], 1939]]
In 1902, the [[Pacific Cable Station|Pacific Cable Board]] laid the first trans-Pacific telegraph cable from [[Bamfield]], British Columbia, to [[Fanning Island]] (Tabuaeran) in the Line Islands, and from Fiji to Fanning Island, thus completing the [[All Red Line]], a series of telegraph lines circumnavigating the globe completely within the British Empire. The location of Fanning Island, one of the closest formations to Hawaii, led to its annexation by the British Empire in 1888. Nearby candidates including [[Palmyra Island]] were not favoured due to the lack of adequate landing sites.<ref>{{cite web |title=Palmyra Atoll |url=https://www.smoketreemanor.com/palmyra-atoll/5/ |page=5 |website=smoketreemanor.com |language=en |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref>

The United States eventually incorporated the Northern Line Islands into its territories, and did the same with the [[Phoenix Islands]], which lie between Gilberts and the Line Islands, including [[Howland Island|Howland]], [[Jarvis Island|Jarvis]], and [[Baker Island|Baker]] islands, thus causing a territorial dispute. That was eventually resolved and they finally became part of Kiribati under the [[Treaty of Tarawa]].<ref> That treaty was signed shortly after independence and ratified in 1983, with the United States relinquishing all claims to the sparsely-inhabited Phoenix Islands, and those of the Line Islands that are part of Kiribati territory.</ref>
[[File:Tarawa.jpg|thumb|right|American Marines assault a Japanese bunker during the [[Battle of Tarawa]], November 1943]]

After the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], during [[World War II]], [[Butaritari]] and Tarawa, and others of the Northern Gilbert group, were [[Japanese occupation of the Gilbert Islands|occupied by Japan]] from 1941 to 1943. [[Betio]] became an airfield and supply base. The expulsion of the Japanese forces in late 1943 involved one of the bloodiest battles in [[US Marine Corps]] history. Marines landed in November 1943 and the [[Battle of Tarawa]] ensued. As the headquarters of the colony, Banaba was bombed, evacuated and occupied by Japan in 1942 and not freed until 1945, after the massacre of all but one of the Gilbertese on the island by the Japanese forces. [[Funafuti]] then hosted the provisional headquarters of the colony from 1942 to 1946, when Tarawa returned to host the headquarters.<ref>{{cite web |title=HyperWar: Building the Navy's Bases in World War II: History of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Civil Engineer Corps, 1940-1946 |url=https://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Building_Bases/bases-24.html |language=en |access-date=10 May 2025}}</ref>

At the end of 1945, most of the remaining inhabitants of Banaba, repatriated from [[Kosrae]], [[Nauru]] and Tarawa, were relocated to [[Rabi Island]], an island of Fiji that the British government had acquired in 1942 for this purpose.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://journals.openedition.org/jso/7100|doi = 10.4000/jso.7100|title = Phosphate mining and the relocation of the Banabans to northern Fiji in 1945: Lessons for climate change-forced displacement|year = 2014|last1 = Edwards|first1 = Julia B.|journal = Journal de la Société des Océanistes|issue = 138–139|pages = 121–136|doi-access = free}}</ref>

On 1 January 1953, the [[List of resident commissioners and governors of the Solomon Islands|British Western Pacific High Commissioner]] of the colony was transferred from Fiji to the new capital of [[Honiara]], to the [[British Solomon Islands]], with the Gilberts' Resident Commissioner still located in Tarawa.<ref name="Macdonald, B. K. 1982">{{cite book |last= Macdonald |first= Barrie Keith|author-link= |date= 2001 |title= Cinderellas of the Empire: Towards a History of Kiribati and Tuvalu|url= |location= Canberra|publisher=([[Australian National University]] Press, (first published 1982)|pages=|isbn=982-02-0335-X}}</ref>

Further military operations in the colony occurred in the late 1950s and early 1960s when [[Kiritimati|Christmas Island]] was used by the United States and United Kingdom for [[nuclear weapons testing]] including [[thermonuclear weapon|hydrogen bombs]].<ref>[https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA136820.pdf] Operation Dominic I, United States Atmospheric Nuclear Weapons Test Personnel Review, Defense Nuclear Agency for the Department of Defense, 1962</ref>

Institutions of internal self-rule were established on Tarawa from about 1967. The Ellice Islands requested their separation from the rest of the colony in 1974 and were granted their own internal self-rule institutions. The separation entered into force on 1 January 1976. In 1978, the Ellice Islands became the independent state of [[Tuvalu]].<ref name="auto1">Ridgell, Reilly (1995) ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia''. 3rd Edition. Honolulu: Bess Press. {{ISBN|1573060011}}. p. 95.</ref>

===Independence===
[[File:KiribatiPresidential Residence.jpg|thumb|The Presidential residence, former [[Government House]], [[Bairiki]]]]
The Gilbert Islands gained independence as the Republic of Kiribati on 12 July 1979.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/oceania/ki.htm|title=Kiribati Map and Information, Map of Kiribati, Facts, Figures and Geography of Kiribati -Worldatlas.com |website=worldatlas.com|language=en|access-date=12 July 2017}}</ref> Then, in September, the United States relinquished all claims to the sparsely inhabited [[Phoenix Islands|Phoenix]] and Line Islands, in a 1979 treaty of friendship with Kiribati ([[Treaty of Tarawa|ratified in 1983]]).<ref>Kiribati was then granted sovereignty on [[Canton Island]], [[Enderbury Island]], Birnie Island, Mckean Island, Rawaki, Manra, Orona, and Nikumaroro from the Phoenix Islands; and [[Teraina]], [[Tabuaeran]], [[Kiritimati]], Malden Island, Starbuck Island, Caroline Islands, Vostok Islands and Flint Island from the Line Islands.</ref> Although the indigenous [[Gilbertese language|Gilbertese]] name for the Gilbert Islands proper is "Tungaru", the new state chose the name "Kiribati", the Gilbertese spelling of "Gilberts", because it was more modern and as an equivalent of the former colony to acknowledge the inclusion of Banaba, the Line Islands, and the [[Phoenix Islands]]. The last two archipelagoes were never initially occupied by Gilbertese until the British authorities, and later the republic's government, resettled Gilbertese there under resettlement schemes.<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto">{{cite journal |last= Maude |first= H. E. |year= 1952 |title= The colonisation of the Phoenix Islands |journal= Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume= 61 |issue= 1–2 |pages= 62–89 |url= http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_61_1952/Volume_61,_No._1_%2B_2/The_colonization_of_the_Phoenix_Islands,_by_H._E._Maude,_p_62-89/p1 |access-date= 27 February 2015 |archive-date= 14 November 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221114130302/http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Volume_61_1952/Volume_61,_No._1_+_2/The_colonization_of_the_Phoenix_Islands,_by_H._E._Maude,_p_62-89/p1 |url-status= dead }}</ref> In 1982, the first [[1982 Kiribati parliamentary election|elections since independence]] were held. A no-confidence vote provoked another [[1983 Kiribati parliamentary election|election in 1983]]. In the post-independence period, [[overcrowding]] has been an issue, at least in British and aid organisations' eyes. In 1988, an announcement was made that 4,700 residents of the main island group would be resettled onto less populated islands. In September 1994, [[Teburoro Tito]] from the opposition was elected president.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=East |first1=Roger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5VO4AwAAQBAJ&dq=Teburoro+Tito+25+August+1953&pg=PA274 |title=Profiles of People in Power: The World's Government Leaders |last2=Thomas |first2=Richard J. |date=2014-06-03 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-63940-4 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1995, Kiribati unilaterally moved the [[International Date Line]] far to the east to encompass the Line Islands group, so that the country would no longer be divided by the date line. The move, which fulfilled one of President Tito's campaign promises, was intended to allow businesses across the expansive territory to keep the same business week. This also enabled Kiribati to become the first country to see the dawn of the [[third millennium]], an event of significance for tourism. Tito was re-elected in 1998. In 1999, Kiribati became a full member of the United Nations, 20 years after independence.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.un.org/webcast/ga/58/statements/kirieng031001.htm |title = Kiribati |publisher = United Nations |date = 1 October 2003 |access-date = 14 May 2010 }}</ref> In 2002, Kiribati passed a controversial law that enabled the government to shut down newspaper publishers. The legislation followed the launching of Kiribati's first successful non-government-run newspaper. President Tito was re-elected in 2003 but was removed from office in March 2003 by a no-confidence vote and replaced by a Council of State. [[Anote Tong]] of the opposition party [[Boutokaan Te Koaua]] was elected to succeed Tito in July 2003. He was re-elected in 2007 and in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.electionguide.org/country.php?ID=113 |title = IFES Election Guide – Country Profile: Kiribati |publisher = Electionguide.org |access-date = 14 May 2010 }}</ref>

In June 2008, Kiribati officials asked Australia and New Zealand to accept Kiribati citizens as permanent refugees. Kiribati is expected to be the first country to lose all its land territory to [[climate change]]. In June 2008, Kiribati President Anote Tong said that the country had reached "the point of no return." He added, "To plan for the day when you no longer have a country is indeed painful but I think we have to do that."<ref>{{cite news |title=Leader of disappearing island nation says climate change an issue of survival, not economics |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/05/asia/AS-GEN-New-Zealand-World-Environment-Day.php |access-date=23 July 2020 |work=International Herald Tribune |agency=Associated Press|date=5 June 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605183737/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/05/asia/AS-GEN-New-Zealand-World-Environment-Day.php |archive-date=5 June 2008 |location=Wellington, New Zealand}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Kiribati's President: 'Our Lives Are at Stake' |url=https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=3002001 |access-date=23 July 2020 |work=ABC News |publisher=American Broadcasting Company |date=7 May 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Marks |first1=Kathy |title=Paradise lost: climate change forces South Sea islanders to seek sanctuary abroad |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/paradise-lost-climate-change-forces-south-sea-islanders-to-seek-sanctuary-abroad-841409.html |access-date=23 July 2020 |work=The Independent|date=6 June 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Nair |first1=Suchit |title=Tiny atoll in Pacific cries out for help |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Tiny-atoll-in-Pacific-cries-out-for-help/articleshow/3104328.cms |access-date=23 July 2020 |work=The Times of India |date=6 June 2008 |location=Wellington/Christchurch}}</ref>

In January 2012, Anote Tong was re-elected for a third and last successive term. In early 2012, the government of Kiribati acquired the 2,200-hectare Natoavatu Estate on the second largest island of Fiji, [[Vanua Levu]]. At the time it was widely reported<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/kiribati/9127576/Entire-nation-of-Kiribati-to-be-relocated-over-rising-sea-level-threat.html |location = London |work = The Daily Telegraph |first = Paul |last = Chapman |title = Entire nation of Kiribati to be relocated over rising sea level threat |date = 7 March 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Spector |first1=Dina |last2=Lee |first2=Eloise |title=Rising Sea Levels Are Forcing This Entire Island Nation To Move To Another Island |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/kiribati-rising-sea-levels-climate-change-2012-3 |access-date=23 July 2020 |work=Business Insider |date=7 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=67431.html |location = Wellington |work = Radio NZ |title = Kiribati parliament to consider Fiji land purchase |date = 11 April 2012 }}</ref> that the government planned to evacuate the entire population of Kiribati to Fiji. In April 2013, President Tong began urging citizens to evacuate the islands and migrate elsewhere.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lagan |first1=Bernard |title=Kiribati: A Nation Going Under |url=http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/kiribati-a-nation-going-under/590/ |access-date=23 July 2020 |work=The Global Mail |date=15 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423023949/http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/kiribati-a-nation-going-under/590/ |archive-date=23 April 2013}}</ref> In May 2014, the Office of the President confirmed the purchase of some 5,460 acres of land on Vanua Levu at a cost of 9.3&nbsp;million Australian dollars.<ref>{{cite press release |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Kiribati buys a piece of Fiji |url=http://www.climate.gov.ki/2014/05/30/kiribati-buys-a-piece-of-fiji/ |publisher=Republic of Kiribati |access-date=23 July 2020 |date=30 May 2014 |archive-date=14 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221114130320/http://www.climate.gov.ki/2014/05/30/kiribati-buys-a-piece-of-fiji/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In March 2016, [[Taneti Maamau]] was [[2016 Kiribati presidential election|elected]] and took office as the fifth President of Kiribati.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/298579/taneti-maamau-declared-new-president-of-kiribati |title=Taneti Maamau declared new president of Kiribati |work=rnz.co.au |date=10 March 2016 |access-date=20 August 2021 }}</ref> In June 2020, President Maamau won [[2020 Kiribati presidential election|re-election]] for a second four-year term. President Maamau was considered pro-China and he supported closer ties with Beijing.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dw.com/en/kiribati-pro-china-president-taneti-maamau-wins-reelection-bid/a-53903705 |title=Kiribati: Pro-China President Taneti Maamau wins reelection bid |work=DW.com |date=23 June 2020 |access-date=20 August 2021 }}</ref> On 16 November 2021, the Kiribati government announced it would expose the world's largest marine protected area to commercial fishing. The [[2022 Kiribati constitutional crisis]] started with the suspension of all 5 major Justices of the [[judiciary of Kiribati]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Legal body condemns Kiribati govt over judiciary moves |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/474413/legal-body-condemns-kiribati-govt-over-judiciary-moves |work=[[RNZ]] |date=8 September 2022 |language=en-nz}}</ref>

In 2020, [[COVID-19 pandemic in Kiribati|Kiribati’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic]], consistent with most of the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania|COVID-19 responses of Oceania island nations]], was to impose strict limits on tourism and commercial travel. 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. In 2024, 5,085 Coronavirus Cases were reported which causes 24 deaths, while 2,703 were reported to have recovered.
<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/kiribati/|title=Kiribati COVID - Coronavirus Statistics|website=Worldometer}}</ref>
On 29 January 2023, Kiribati confirmed its intention to rejoin the [[Pacific Islands Forum]], ending a bitter two-year leadership split.