Located just to the west of the International Date Line, the Republic of Kiribati is one of the first places on earth to see the first rays of the rising sun. It is also the only country that is situated within all four hemispheres. Kiribati (pronounced as Kiri bas is a respelling of the English word “Christmas” in the Kiribati language) consists of 33 coral atolls scattered over a vast area of ocean about 3.5 million square kilometers. The three main island groupings are the Gilbert Islands, Phoenix Islands and Line Islands. Only 21 of these islands are inhabited. Kiribati’s capital city, Tarawa, itself is an island. The capital lies halfway between Hawaii and Australia. Kiritimati or Christmas Atoll in the Line Islands, is the largest coral atoll (in terms of land area, not dimensions) in the world.