Kiribati

OceaniaCapital city: TarawaCapital metro: TarawaPrime Minister: Taneti MaamauPresident: Taneti Maamau
2026 population
121K
Rank #201 globally
Area
811 km² (313 sq mi)
Metros tracked
1
58% of population in metros
Composite score
0.3
Rank #226 globally

population: Natl annual projection (1 Jul 2021) · indicators as of 5 Sep 2026 · 1 metros tracked

🗺️ Geography1 metro

Kiribati metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.

Loading map…
1 polygons

Select a metro for its rank and a link to its page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.

🏙️ 1 tracked metro
1 metros
#2627Tarawa★ Capital▲ Largest
Gilbert · 70K · Local Metro
0.3
🗂️ Groups

2 entries listed under Kiribati. Select any to see its metros and footprint.

2 total
📋 At a glance
Official languages
English, Gilbertese
Legislature
House of Assembly of Kiribati
Demonym
I-Kiribati
Time zones
UTC+12:00, UTC+13:00, UTC+14:00
Driving side
Left
Calling code
+686
Internet TLD
.ki
ISO 3166
KI
Established
1979
Highest point
Banaba Island (81 m (266 ft))
National anthem
Kunan Kiribati

Facts via Wikidata.

🗣️ Languages of Kiribati

English first; 2 languages share the country; 2 official.

LanguageShareStatus
English100%Official
Gilbertese60%Official

Shares count first and second language, so they overlap and can add past 100%.

English reach
100%
Tier 3 country
Effective languages
1.0
Official-language gap
0%
English is spoken by 100%

Kiribati on the languages board · Language power

💹 Economy and developmentLower middle income
Human Dev. Index
#138 / 191
0.644
UNDP · 2023
GDP
#190 / 193
$349M
World Bank · 2025
GDP per capita
#149 / 193
$2.6k
World Bank · 2025
GDP/capita (PPP)
#165 / 190
$3.9k
World Bank · 2025
GNI/capita (Atlas)
#129 / 192
$3.9k
World Bank · 2025
Life expectancy
#158 / 194
66.6 yrs
World Bank · 2024
Median age
22.7 yrs
UN WPP · 2023
Urban population
#97 / 194
63%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. growth
1.5%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. density
#55 / 193
164/km² (424/mi²)
World Bank · 2023
Foreign-born
#126 / 193
2.5%
World Bank · 2024
Gini index
★ #4 / 166
24.7
World Bank · 2023
Internet users
#61 / 193
89%
World Bank · 2024
Inflation
#76 / 185
2.5%
World Bank · 2024
CO₂ per capita
#35 / 192
0.5 t
Global Carbon Budget · 2024
Renewable electricity
#107 / 186
25%
Ember · 2024

Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.

Alliances & Organisations3 full memberships

Political & Economic

Regional

Subregional

Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer

🏛️ Leadership History8 leaders · click to expand
Taneti Maamau✦ Current
President · 10y 3m 22d
2016–Present
Taneti Maamau✦ Current
Prime Minister · 10y 3m 22d
2016–Present
Anote Tong
President · 12y 8m 1d
2003–2016
Tion Otang
President · 3m 12d
2003–2003
Anote Tong
President · 2m 27d
2003–2003
Teburoro Tito
President · 8y 3m 0d
1994–2003
Teatao Teannaki
President · 2y 10m 20d
1991–1994
Ieremia Tabai
President · 11y 11m 22d
1979–1991
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
Today
Minor#215 · 0.0%
3%5%8%10%2000
Power (headline share)Latent (material mass)Recognised (standing)

The power line is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.

👥 Population over time
Population 2023
133k
#193 in the world
Since 1800
7.41×
from 18k
Peak
2023
at its largest now
Share of world
0.00%
0.00% in 1800
35k69k104k138k18001850190019502000

Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Note that people and share of world can move in opposite directions. A country can grow steadily and still become a smaller part of humanity, which is what happened to almost every rich country after 1960.

👥 To 2100

The UN’s probabilistic projection for Kiribati: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.

Peak on the median
2099
223k on the UN median
2050
183k
95% band 124k to 275k
2100
223k
95% band 72k to 749k
2100 against 2025
1.63×
median falling from 2100
197k393k590k786k1950197520002025205020752100
estimateUN median80% and 95% bandshigh and low fertilityzero migration

What drives it

Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.

1950
2k born · 883 died · 0 net migration
TFR 6.13 · life expectancy 45.7 · median age 21.1
1960
2k born · 911 died · 0 net migration
TFR 6.44 · life expectancy 48.0 · median age 17.7
1970
2k born · 801 died · -233 net migration
TFR 5.71 · life expectancy 54.4 · median age 16.4
1980
2k born · 681 died · -610 net migration
TFR 4.96 · life expectancy 57.3 · median age 17.5
1990
3k born · 698 died · -441 net migration
TFR 4.67 · life expectancy 61.0 · median age 19.2
2000
3k born · 638 died · -629 net migration
TFR 4.07 · life expectancy 64.7 · median age 18.7
2010
3k born · 753 died · -456 net migration
TFR 3.90 · life expectancy 65.9 · median age 20.3
2020
3k born · 953 died · 0 net migration
TFR 3.25 · life expectancy 65.2 · median age 22.2

Every country to 2100 →

Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.

🏆 National Teams

Kiribati on the international stage. Select a card for the full record.