Mountain · Kiribati
Unnamed rise on Banaba
The unnamed rise on Banaba is the highest point of Kiribati, only 81 m above the Pacific Ocean. Every other island of the country is a flat ring of coral sand.
Where is the Unnamed rise on Banaba?
The Unnamed rise on Banaba is part of the Raised limestone plateau.
You will find it in: Kiribati.
Summit: 0.859° S, 169.537° E
The story behind it
Banaba is not an ordinary low island. It began as a coral reef and was slowly pushed upwards, so the whole island is a block of old limestone with a small plateau on top. For a long time the rock here was dug out and shipped away, because it was full of phosphate, a mineral used to make fields grow better. What is left in the middle of the island is a strange forest of pale stone pinnacles standing where the soil used to be. There are no rivers and no streams, so people collect rainwater in tanks and wells. Many families from Banaba moved to an island in Fiji when the digging changed their home, and some still live there today while a small community stays on the island.
Find it on the globe
The Unnamed rise on Banaba is there as a small peak with its own shape — a horn, a ridge, a volcano — standing on the surface. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.
It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.
Questions children ask
How high is the highest point of Kiribati?
The rise on Banaba reaches 81 m above sea level. That is lower than many church towers, yet it is the only real high ground in a country made almost entirely of flat atolls.
Which country is Banaba in?
The island belongs to Kiribati, a Pacific country spread over a huge area of ocean. Banaba lies far to the west of the other groups of islands, close to the equator.
Can you visit the highest point of Banaba?
Getting there is the hard part, not the walking. Boats call only now and then, permission is needed, and once ashore a short stroll across the plateau leads to the top, where sharp stone makes firm shoes useful.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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