Kiribati
/ˈkɪrɪbæs/- a country in the SW Pacific including the Gilbert Islands, the Line islands, the Phoenix Islands, and Banaba (Ocean Island); pop. 112,900 (est. 2009); official languages, English and I-Kiribati (local Austronesian language); capital, Bairiki (on Tarawa).基里巴斯(太平洋西南部国家, 包括吉尔伯特群岛、莱恩群岛、菲尼克斯群岛和巴纳巴岛[大洋岛]; 2009年估计人口112,900, 官方语言为英语和基里巴斯语[当地南岛语]; 首都拜里基[位于特拉瓦岛上])。
Inhabited by Micronesian people, the islands were sighted by the Spaniards in the mid 16th century. Britain declared a protectorate over the Gilbert and Ellice Islands in 1892, and they became a colony in 1915. British links with the Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu) ended in 1975, and in 1979 Kiribati became an independent republic within the Commonwealth.