Oceania · capital city
What Is the Capital of Kiribati?
Tarawa
The capital of Kiribati is Tarawa. About 64,000 people live in the Tarawa urban area — 46.9% of the country's population.
64,000
Urban area population
UTC+12
Time zone
1.35°N
Latitude · 173.03°E
Yes
Largest city
Tarawa at a glance
Name origin
The name is said to derive from the I-Kiribati words te (the) and rawa (run), referring to a channel through a nearby reef.
Time zone
UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time). No daylight saving time.
Coordinates
1 21 N, 173 02 E · IANA time zone Pacific/Tarawa
Location of Kiribati
Oceania, group of 32 coral atolls and one raised coral island in the Pacific Ocean, straddling the Equator; the capital Tarawa is about halfway between Hawaii and Australia
Capitals closest to Tarawa
Majuro, Marshall Islands — 665 km
Funafuti, Tuvalu — 1,294 km
Palikir, Micronesia — 1,762 km
Honiara, Solomon Islands — 1,881 km
Port-Vila, Vanuatu — 2,184 km
Suva, Fiji — 2,245 km
Mata-Utu, Wallis and Futuna — 2,374 km
Apia, Samoa — 2,377 km
Straight-line distance between capitals.
Frequently asked questions about Tarawa
What is the capital of Kiribati?
The capital of Kiribati is Tarawa. About 64,000 people live in the Tarawa urban area — 46.9% of the country's population.
Is Tarawa the largest city in Kiribati?
Yes — Tarawa is also the largest urban area of Kiribati (64,000).
What time zone is Tarawa in?
Tarawa is on UTC+12 — UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time). There is no daylight saving time.
Where does the name Tarawa come from?
The name is said to derive from the I-Kiribati words te (the) and rawa (run), referring to a channel through a nearby reef.
Data: CIA World Factbook (public domain); population: World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0).