Kiribati

Kiribati - the former Gilbert Islands - is a collection of 33 atolls, ranged into three principal groups, which won independence from the United Kingdom in 1979.

Twenty of the atolls are inhabited, most are very low-lying and at risk from rising sea levels.

The republic occupies a vast area in the Pacific. It stretches nearly 4,000 km from east to west, more than 2,000 km from north to south, and straddles the Equator.

Kiribati also used to lie either side of the International Date Line, but the government unilaterally moved the line eastwards in 1995 to ensure the day was the same in the whole country.

This was a shrewd move as Kiribati marketed itself as the first inhabited place on Earth to greet the new millennium on 1 January 2000. The world's media descended on Caroline Island, re-named Millennium Island, to record the event.

Kiribati's economy is weak and is affected by rises and falls in the world demand for coconut.

Fishing licences, foreign aid and money sent home by workers abroad also play their part, as does a trust fund set up with revenues from phosphate mining on the island of Banaba. The mines were depleted by 1980, leaving Banaba uninhabitable.

-BBC News