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30-612: Bonriki is a settlement on Tarawa atoll , Kiribati , near Temwaiku and is part of the municipality of South Tarawa . It is in the south-east of South Tarawa. Bonriki International Airport , one of two international airports in Kiribati, is located here. One of the first roads linking islands together in Tarawa connects Bonriki to Bikenibeu . 1°22′20″N 173°09′09″E  /  1.37222°N 173.15250°E  / 1.37222; 173.15250 This Kiribati location article

60-453: A land area of 15.26 km . It is made up of several islets; the widest part of North Tarawa can be found in the village of Buariki and the narrowest width in the village of Tearinibai, next to Buariki . Buota was joined by a bridge to South Tarawa in 1995 and has since increased in population and is becoming more like part of urban South Tarawa. Abatao is not accessible by road, but the channel can be easily walked at low tide and there

90-415: A sleeping mat twenty-five years later, described the situation: "In those days death was on the right hand and on the left. If we wandered north, we were killed or raped. If we wandered south, we were killed or raped. If we returned alive from walking abroad, our husbands themselves killed us, for they said that we had gone forth seeking to be raped. That was indeed just, for a woman who disobeys her husband

120-409: A string of islets from Buariki in the north to Buota in the south. The islets are separated in places by wide channels that are best crossed at low tide, and there is a ferry service between Buota and Abatao. Only Buota is connected by road to South Tarawa, via a bridge. On South Tarawa , the construction of causeways has now created a single strip of land from Betio in the west to Tanaea in

150-570: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Tarawa Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati , in the Micronesia region of the central Pacific Ocean. It comprises North Tarawa , which has 6,629 inhabitants and much in common with other more remote islands of the Gilbert group , and South Tarawa , which has 56,388 inhabitants as of 2015 , half of

180-577: Is a boat service at high tide. For people in Abatao and Buota, it is much easier to access schools, clinics and other services on South Tarawa than to travel to the Government Station in Abaokoro . Apart from the bridge from Buota to Tanaea, small causeways connect the villages of Tebwangoroi and Taratai, Tebwangoroi and Nuatabu. The erosion and accretion that are occurring along the shoreline

210-549: Is a woman of no account, and it matters not how she dies. Yet how beautiful is life in our villages, now that there is no killing and war is no more... Behold my son and my grandson! These would have died with me that day at Nea if the warship had not arrived. And these"-she pointed out her great and great-great-grandchildren-"would never have been born. We live because the Government of Kuini Kabitoria brought peace to us, and here I sit plaiting this mat to be buried in because of

240-429: Is free and compulsory for ages 6 to 13. Primary education includes the first seven years: classes one to six. The 110 government-funded primary schools throughout the islands enroll 17,594 students (approximately 49 percent female) and employ 727 teachers (approximately 62 percent female). In 1997, some 75 students were retained in a primary grade because of inadequate academic performance. Educational attainment in Kiribati

270-496: Is identified as being linked to aggregate mining, land reclamation and the construction of causeways that has been thought to change the currents along the shoreline. The atoll has a protected area that is designated as the Nooto-North Tarawa Conservation Area . Abaokoro accommodates the main service infrastructures such as the offices of Eutan Tarawa Council, the junior secondary school and

300-542: Is largely restricted to the primary level; this is principally the result of a lack of availability and cost of secondary and tertiary schools on the islands. Currently there is one Christian senior high, Immaculate Heart College . North Tarawa has a special place in Kiribati mythology; the tree of life or tree of knowledge or Uekera was planted in Buariki village in North Tarawa by Nei Tekanuea. Uekera came from

330-588: The Gilbertese) are still excellent seafarers, capable of making ocean crossings in locally made vessels using traditional navigation techniques. Thomas Gilbert , captain of the East India Company vessel Charlotte , was the first European to describe Tarawa, arriving on 20 June 1788. He did not land. He named it Matthew Island, after the owner of his ship Charlotte . He named the lagoon Charlotte Bay. Gilbert's 1788 sketches survive. The island

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360-620: The Island. The Kiribati Government began a road restoration project funded in part by the World Bank in 2014 to re-surface the main road from Betio in the west to Bonriki in the east, upgrading the main road that transits Tarawa from a dirt road. As of 2018, all that remained to be completed of this project was the sealing of the Japanese Causeway, connecting Bairiki and Betio, done in 2019. North Tarawa North Tarawa has

390-586: The annual average is 3,000 mm (120 in) in the north and 500 mm (20 in) in the south of the Gilbert Islands. Most of these islands are in the dry belt of the equatorial oceanic climatic zone and experience prolonged droughts. Tarawa atoll has three administrative subdivisions: Betio Town Council (or BTC), on Betio Islet; Teinainano Urban Council  [ it ] (or TUC), from Bairiki to Tanaea; and Eutan Tarawa Council (or ETC), for North Tarawa or Tarawa Ieta , consisting of all

420-715: The atoll. The Marines captured the island after 76 hours of intense fighting that killed 6,000 people in total. The fierce fighting was the subject of a documentary film produced by the Combat Photographers of the Second Marine Division entitled With the Marines at Tarawa . It was released in March 1944 at the insistence of President Roosevelt . It became the first time many Americans viewed American servicemen dead on film. . The US built bases on

450-472: The channel between Buota and Abatao, but this channel can be easily walked at low tide, so that the southern islets of North Tarawa can be accessed on foot. The Island Council operates a guest house at Abaokoro, providing basic accommodation for Government workers and other visitors, but also welcoming tourists. There are also several independent homestays and lodges in North Tarawa. Nooto-North Tarawa Conservation Area , 10.33 km (3.99 sq mi),

480-622: The country's total population. The atoll was the site of the Battle of Tarawa during World War II . Tarawa is an old Gilbertese form for Te Rawa , meaning "The Passage" (of the Lagoon), named for the unusual large ship channel to the lagoon. In the popular etymology based on Kiribati mythology , Nareau , the God-spider, distinguished Karawa , the sky, from Marawa , the Sea, from Tarawa ,

510-521: The early 1970s, a boat constructed at Taratai village was sailed to Fiji using traditional navigation techniques, as part of a project led by James Siers to demonstrate that Pacific seafarers were capable of making deliberate voyages of exploration in ancient times. In North Tarawa, the subsistence lifestyle practiced throughout the Gilbert Islands coexists with a more market economy based on trade with neighboring South Tarawa . Only 16% of

540-466: The high commissions of Australia and New Zealand. The United Nations are also present in Kiribati, including UNICEF , UNDP , UNFPA , UNOPS , UN Women , WHO and FAO . In Kiribati mythology, Tarawa was the earth when the land, ocean and sky had not been cleaved yet by Nareau the spider. Thus, after calling the sky karawa and the ocean marawa , he called the piece of rock that Riiki (another god that Nareau found) had stood upon when he lifted up

570-686: The islets on the east side from Buota northwards. The meaning of Te inainano in Gilbertese language is "down of the mast", alluding to the sail-shape of the atoll South Tarawa hosts the capital of the Republic of Kiribati and was also the central headquarters of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands since 1895. The House of Assembly is in Ambo, and the State House is in Bairiki . The offices of

600-473: The kindness of that woman, with all my generations around me to wrap me in it when I die." The aftermath of land claims and counter-claims between Auatubu and Teabike nevertheless caused high tension for years afterwards. Charles Richard Swayne , the first Resident Commissioner , decided to install the central headquarters of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands protectorate in Tarawa in 1895. Tarawa Post Office opened on 1 January 1911. Sir Arthur Grimble

630-500: The land. Tarawa has a large lagoon , 500 square kilometres (193 square miles) in total area, and a wide reef. The lagoon is widely open to the ocean, with a large ship pass. Although naturally abundant in fish and shellfish of all kinds, marine resources are being strained by the large and growing population. Drought is frequent, but in normal years rainfall is sufficient to maintain breadfruit , papaya and banana trees as well as coconut and pandanus . North Tarawa consists of

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660-504: The main medical centre. With the rapid growth of population in South Tarawa, people are choosing to settle in North Tarawa in greater numbers, especially in Abatao and Buota, the two villages closest to South Tarawa. There are 14 villages in North Tarawa. From North to South, the villages and their populations are: Tarawa was governed as one island, under a king, until Colonial times. The colonial administrative centre of Kiribati

690-533: The northeast. Previously, Benito, the site of the battle of Tarawa , was only 291 acres in size. Tarawa features a tropical rainforest climate under the Köppen climate classification . The climate is pleasant from April to October, with predominant northeastern winds and stable temperatures close to 30 °C (86 °F). From November to March, western gales bring rain and occasional cyclones . Precipitation varies significantly between islands. For example,

720-515: The sky as, Tarawa . Nareau then created the rest of the islands in Kiribati and also Samoa. Gilbertese arrived at these islands thousands of years ago, and there have been migrations to and from Gilbert Islands since antiquity. Evidence from a range of sources, including carbon dating and DNA analyses, confirms that the exploration of the Pacific included settlement of the Gilbert Islands by around 200 BC. The people of Tungaru (native name of

750-577: The south. Spirits who lived in a tree in Samoa migrated northward carrying branches from the tree. It was these spirits, together with Nareau the Wise who created the islands of Tungaru (the Gilbert Islands) There are regular ferry services from urban South Tarawa to the main villages of North Tarawa, and it is also relatively simple to charter a boat. The road from South Tarawa ends at

780-417: The various ministries of the government range from Betio at the south-west extreme to Nawerewere (on an easterly island in its chain), close to Bonriki (International Airport) and Temwaiku . Settlements on North Tarawa include Buariki , Abaokoro , Marenanuka and Taborio . Four resident diplomatic missions exist: the embassies of China (closed in 2003, re-opened in 2020) and Japan (opened in 2023), and

810-489: The workforce are in paid employment, but a further 17% earn cash from market oriented activities. There is a strong trade in local food, building materials and other items from North Tarawa, which are sold for cash in markets and on the streets of South Tarawa. Aratokotoko Primary School is in North Tarawa. The Japanese government funded the construction of four classrooms there, spending $ 95,004.00 U.S. dollars (about $ 92,505.00 Australian dollars ). Education in Kiribati

840-633: Was a cadet administrative officer based at Tarawa (1913–1919). He became Resident Commissioner of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony in 1926. During World War II , Tarawa was occupied by the Japanese , and beginning on 20 November 1943 it was the scene of the bloody Battle of Tarawa . On that day U.S. Marines landed on Tarawa and fought Japanese Marines of the Special Naval Landing Forces occupying entrenched positions on

870-416: Was originally located at Taratai in North Tarawa (where the last king used to live). The administrative centre was later moved to South Tarawa , which remains the capital of Kiribati to this day. The decision to locate the Government on South Tarawa led to many changes; the lifestyle on South Tarawa is now almost urban, while lifestyles on North Tarawa remain based in traditional, subsistence culture. In

900-618: Was surveyed in 1841 by the US Exploring Expedition . For nine generations, the island was divided between two warring factions, the House of Auatubu and the House of Teabike, until in 1892 HMS Royalist (1883) arrived, with Captain Edward Davis proclaiming that the island was now a British Protectorate . This saved Auatubu from massacre; the day before, they had been badly defeated by Teabike. A very old lady, plaiting

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