State of the Environment report, 2000 - 2002 : Kiribati

Abstract

The Gilbert Islands contain the bulk of the population (>90%) but have about 35 % of the land mass. All the islands are privately owned by the indigenous people, but most of the land on South Tarawa, the capital, is leased by Government for development purposes. East of the Gilbert group lies the Phoenix Islands. One of its island, Kanton (also known as Canton) hosts less than 100 people and the remaining 7 atolls are uninhabited, except Orona, which is used for trial to harvest the natural resources for economic gain. All the islands in the group are owned by Government