Welcome to South Tarawa, the capital and hub of the Republic of Kiribati. It is not one town but a chain of small islets stretching from Betio in the west to Bonriki and Tanaea in the north-east, all joined by a single main road. More than half of Kiribati's people live here. Along this narrow ribbon of land you will find almost everything the nation depends on: the port and the High Court, the State House, ministries, embassies, a university campus and the central hospital. Let's travel along the atoll, from wartime history to island culture.
Betio
Photo: Government of USA, Government of Kiribati · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsOur journey begins at Betio, the largest township of South Tarawa and the country's main port, at the far south-west corner of the atoll. This island is known above all for the Battle of Tarawa in the Second World War. Japanese forces attacked in December 1941 and occupied the island the next year. Several Allied prisoners escaped in a small open boat and sailed all the way to Nonouti, before being carried on to Fiji. Others were less fortunate, and the men lost here are remembered with respect.
Te Umanibong
Step inside Te Umanibong, the Kiribati Museum and Cultural Centre in Bikenibeu, where artefacts of cultural and historic significance are on display. Its roots go back to 1971, after a UNESCO meeting in Suva. Two years later, islanders and people from the diaspora founded the Tungavalu Society, which ran a newsletter and, in 1975, held its first exhibition and craft competition. A Cultural Unit later documented much of the country's intangible heritage, and with help from New Zealand, plans for a real museum took shape.
House of Assembly
Photo: User:Vittoriochichia · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsHere in Ambo stands the House of Assembly, the single chamber of the Parliament of Kiribati. Its Gilbertese name, Maneaba ni Maungatabu, means the Maneaba of the Sacred Mountain, after the traditional meeting house. The assembly was created by the Constitution of 12 July 1979, following the Westminster system, and it moved here from Bairiki in October 2000. Remarkably, one of its members is not elected but represents the Banaban community living on Rabi Island in Fiji.
Bikeman Island
Photo: en:Mark Tranchant · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsOur final stop is one you cannot quite stand on. Bikeman Island is a small islet about half an hour by canoe north-east of Betio. Since the early 1990s it has been submerged, as currents shifted and a causeway was built between Betio and Bairiki. If you were to wade out to where Bikeman once rose above the sea, the water would come up to your knees.
Lomakuume
