The new century arrived first in the eyes of the world in Kiribati. The Pacific state with islands stretching over 4,000 kilometres is situated on the Equator.

Kiribati (pronounced kiri-bas) was the object of world wide interest in its earlier history. 150 years ago there was a first contact with Spanish researchers. From 1765 onwards the islands were explored by English seafarers and 50 years later European settlers moved in. Slave traders kidnapped island inhabitants as plantation workers for pacific neighbour islands and Peru. At the end of the 19th century parts of modern Kiribati became British protectorate and later British colony together with other islands. The main income source during colonial times was the exploitation of phosphate deposits that are now exhausted.

Since their independence in 1979 the island republic owns a fishing zone that counts as one of the best in the Pacific and is home to valuable tuna schools. About 2,000 sea men who learnt their job on Kiribati serve on foreign ships and contribute to the country's income. Besides tourism the manufacturing of seaweed could develop into an important industry.

But also in the future new ages may arrive in Kiribati sooner than in the rest of the world: If there is not put a stop to global warming in the next decades almost all the coral islands are threatened by the rise of sea level as they are only 3 metres above sea level at high tide.