3283 KIRIBATI - House of Assembly in Ambo

The capital and hub of the Republic of Kiribati is South Tarawa, home to approximately half of Kiribati's population. The South Tarawa population centre consists of all the small islets from Betio in the west to Bonriki and Tanaea in the east, connected by the South Tarawa main road, with a population of 50,182 as of 2010. It is home to most of the government, commercial and education facilities including the House of Assembly (Maneaba ni Maungatabu) in Ambo. From 1979 to most of 2000 the seat of government was situated in Bairiki. The administrative headquarters were relocated to their current location soon after construction on the new building was finished in October 2000. This new House of Assembly was built by a Japanese company.

1667 KIRIBATI - Japanese WWII Defenses on Tarawa

During WWII, Japan seized part of the islands which today forms Republic of Kiribati, to form part of their island defenses. The Japanese worked intensely for nearly a year to fortify the island. A series of fourteen coastal defense guns, including four large Vickers 8-inch guns purchased during the Russo-Japanese War from the British, were secured in concrete bunkers and located around the island. The island had a total of 500 pillboxes or "stockades" built from logs and sand, many of which were reinforced with cement. Forty artillery pieces were scattered around the island in various reinforced firing pits.

1565 KIRIBATI - Tarawa

Tarawa - Kids carrying kindle

Tarawa Atoll, the capital of the Republic of Kiribati, comprises North Tarawa, which has much in common with other islands of the Gilberts group, and South Tarawa, which is home of the half of the country's total population, i.e. more then 50,000 inhabitants. It has a large lagoon, of over 500 km2, and a wide reef. Although naturally abundant in fish and shellfish of all kinds, marine resources are being overharvested by the growing population. North Tarawa consists of a string of islets, separated in places by wide channels that are best crossed at low tide. On South Tarawa, the construction of causeways has now created a single strip of land from Betio in the West to Buota in the Northeast.