12th July: Kiribati Independence Day

Today is Kiribati Independence Day - 10 things you might not know about Kiribati:

1. Before independence, Kiribati was known as the Gilbert Islands, after the British explorer Thomas Gilbert, who sighted many of the islands in 1788 while mapping out the Outer Passage route from Port Jackson to Canton. The indigenous name was Tungaru; however, when the islands became independent, the name Kiribati, the local enunciation of "Gilberts" was chosen - partly because it was modern and partly because the new nation included the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands, which were not part of the original Tungaru.
2. About half the people live in South Tarawa, the series of islands which serves as the capital.
3. The people of Kiribati speak an Oceanic language called "Gilbertese". English is also an official language, but it is not used much outside the capital.
4. Kiribati is the only country in the world to straddle all four hemispheres. The islands spread across both the equator and the International Date Line. In 1995, Kiribati changed the date for the easternmost islands, effectively creating an indentation in the dateline. This was done so that it would be the same date and day of the week across the whole country.
5. Banaba is the only actual island - the rest are atolls and reefs - 33 of them in all. Kiribati includes Christmas Island, or Kiritimati in Gilbertese. Christmas Island has the greatest land area of any coral atoll in the world, about 388 square kilometres (150 sq mi); and its lagoon is roughly the same size. Christmas Island was used for nuclear testing in the 1950s.
6. Kiribati is known for a number of traditional martial arts, which were kept secret within families for many generations. All of them are believed to have been given to humanity by an ancestral spirit. For example, Nabakai was given to a warrior of that name by three female spirits who would manifest in the form of a Crab. Another is Tabiang, named after the village in which it originated. It uses speed and accuracy and its principle is "you give me one punch I give you four punches". The spirit who taught it was called "Teraka", and legend has it that this spirit also travelled to Asia and taught it to the people there, who gave it a variant of the name - "karate".
7. Duelling is a tradition here, too. Duels were a way to settle disputes and maintain honour, and were highly ritualised. Combatants would wear armour made from a kind of coconut fibre and helmets made of blowfish remains. The helmets were tough and also had points which could be used as weapons, alongside the swords which were made of Shark's teeth. The armour wasn't all that practical for fighting in, though, as it was difficult to move in it, and it was common for fighters to fall over and need help from their assistants to get back up.
8. The highest point on Kiribati is on the island of Banaba (81 m).
9. Dancing in Kiribati is more than a form of entertainment. It is used to tell stories and as a demonstration of endurance and skill. Therefore, smiling while dancing is considered vulgar.
10. The flag consists of three wavy white stripes on a blue background on the bottom half, representing the ocean. The top half is red with a Yellow frigate bird flying over a yellow rising Sun.