The Atolls: Tarawa, the Gilberts and Kiritimati

A coral reef formation with layered plate corals in shades of brown and pink

What an Atoll Actually Is

A ring of reef and islets around a lagoon, built on a subsided volcanic base. The geometry explained properly, because it governs everything downstream — where fresh water sits, where a house can stand, why the land is never more than a few metres up.

By the Visit Kiribati desk · 5 min read

Tarawa, and the Density Nobody Expects

The capital atoll: the string of islets joined by causeway, the population concentrated on South Tarawa, and the infrastructure consequences of putting a capital on a strip of coral a few hundred metres wide.

By the Visit Kiribati desk · 6 min read

Satellite view of scattered turquoise coral atolls in the Gilbert Islands amid dark ocean waters

The Gilbert Group

The sixteen islands of the western group, their spacing, and why they hold most of the country's people.

By the Visit Kiribati desk · 3 min read

Flocks of birds fill the sky above palm trees and coastal vegetation

The Line and Phoenix Islands

The eastern and central groups — mostly uninhabited, enormously distant, and the reason the country's map is mostly water.

By the Visit Kiribati desk · 3 min read

Satellite view of Kiritimati atoll showing turquoise lagoons scattered across its landmass

Kiritimati Is the Largest Atoll on Earth

Christmas Island by land area, its lagoon system and salt flats, its bird populations, and the nuclear testing history that sits in its record.

By the Visit Kiribati desk · 4 min read