Kiribati in other languages: Ribaberikin Kiribati and Bairiki
Kiribati is the same word in Gilbertese and in English, and the official name is Ribaberikin Kiribati, the Republic of Kiribati; ISO 3166-1 codes it KI, KIR and 296. Listed below: the name in 167 languages, the capital Bairiki in 45, the three island groups with their centres and the anthem Teirake Kaini Kiribati in Gilbertese and English.
Official languagesGilbertese (taetae ni Kiribati) and English
Checked
- alpha-2
- KI
- alpha-3
- KIR
- numeric
- 296
Ribaberikin Kiribati
Republic of Kiribati
- English
- KiribatiRepublic of Kiribati
- Capital
- BairikiBairiki
ISO 3166-1, checked 28 October 2026
Kiribati in other languages: list of exonyms
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, Afrikaans, Aragonese, Asturian, Bambara, Breton, Catalan, Czech, Cornish, Danish, Lower Sorbian, Estonian, Basque, Faroese, Finnish, Kven, French, Franco-Provençal, Friulian, Kiribati, Scottish Gaelic, Croatian, Upper Sorbian, Hungarian, Igbo, Interlingua, Indonesian, Italian, Javanese, Jersey Norman French, Kinyarwanda, Latvian, Lingala, Ladin, Malagasy, Maltese, Dutch, Norwegian, Novial, Occitan, Polish, Quechua, Romansh, Romanian, Kirundi, Aromanian, Sicilian, Slovak, Slovenian, Northern Sami, Spanish, Albanian, Sardinian, Saterland Frisian, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, Võro, Walloon, Wolof, Zazaki, German, Luxembourgish, Low German | eng / afr / arg / ast / bam / bre / cat / ces / cor / dan / dsb / est / eus / fao / fin / fkv / fra / frp / fur / gil / gla / hrv / hsb / hun / ibo / ina / ind / ita / jav / jnf / kin / lav / lin / lld / mlg / mlt / nld / nor / nov / oci / pol / que / roh / ron / run / rup / scn / slk / slv / sme / spa / sqi / srd / stq / swa / swe / tur / vor / wln / wol / zza / deu / ltz / nds | Kiribati | same as written |
| Azerbaijani, Crimean Tatar, Gagauz, Karakalpak, Moldovan, Slovio, Turkmen | aze / crh / gag / kaa / mol / slo / tuk | Kiribati / Кирибати | Kiribati |
| Bislama, Tok Pisin | bis / tpi | Kiribas | same as written |
| Galician, Nahuatl | glg / nah | Quiribati | same as written |
| Bosnian | bos | Kiribati / Кирибати / قٖىرٖىباتٖى | Kiribati |
| Welsh | cym | Ciribati | same as written |
| Esperanto | epo | Kiribato | same as written |
| West Frisian | fry | Kiribaty | same as written |
| Irish | gle | Cireabaití | same as written |
| Manx | glv | Yn Chiribati | same as written |
| Haitian Creole | hat | Kiribès | same as written |
| Hawaiian | haw | Kilipaki | same as written |
| Icelandic | isl | Kiríbatí | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Kîrîbatî | same as written |
| Latin | lat | Kiribatum, Kiribati | same as written |
| Lithuanian | lit | Kiribatis | same as written |
| Latgalian | ltg | Kiribats | same as written |
| Malay | msa | Kiribati / كيريباتي | Kiribati |
| Norman French | nrm | Qùiribati | same as written |
| Portuguese | por | Quiribati, Kiribati | same as written |
| Kalderash Romani | rmy | Kiribati / किरिबाती | Kiribati |
| Samogitian | smg | Kėrėbatis | same as written |
| Samoan | smo | Kiripati | same as written |
| Tetum | tet | Kiribás | same as written |
| Tongan | ton | Kilipati | same as written |
| Uzbek | uzb | Kiribati / Кирибати / كىرىبەتى | Kiribati |
| Vietnamese | vie | Ki-ri-ba-ti | same as written |
| Volapük | vol | Kiribasuäns | same as written |
| Old Church Slavonic, Abkhaz, Abaza, Altai, Avar, Bulgarian, Chuvash, Kabardian, Khakas, Komi, Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, Lezgi, Meadow Mari, Macedonian, Mongolian, Ossetian, Russian, Yakut, Tuvan, Udmurt, Kalmyk | chu / abk / abq / alt / ava / bul / chv / kbd / kjh / kom / krc / kum / lez / mhr / mkd / mon / oss / rus / sah / tyv / udm / xal | Кирибати | Kiribati |
| Bashkir, Chechen, Serbian | bak / che / srp | Кирибати / Kiribati | Kiribati |
| Rusyn, Ukrainian | rue / ukr | Кірібаті | Kiribati |
| Belarusian | bel | Кірыбаты / Kirybaty, Кірыбаці / Kirybaci | Kirybaty, Kirybaci |
| Kazakh | kaz | Кирибати / كيريباتي / Kïrïbatï | Kïrïbatï |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Кирибати / كىرىباتى / Kiribati | Kiribati |
| Kurdish (Caucasus) | kmr | Кирибати / Kîrîbatî | Kîrîbatî |
| Tatar | tat | Кирибати / Kiribati / كىرىباتى | Kiribati |
| Tajik | tgk | Кирибати / کیریبتی / Kiribati | Kiribati |
| Arabic | ara | كيريباتي, كيريباس | Kīrībātī, Kīrībās |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | کیریباتی / Kiribati | Kiribati |
| Sorani Kurdish | ckb | کیریباتی / Kîrîbatî | Kîrîbatî |
| Persian | fas | کیریباتی / Kiribâti, کیریباس / Kiribâs | Kiribâti, Kiribâs |
| Western Punjabi | pnb | کریبتی | Kirībatī |
| Dari | prs | کیریباتی | Kīrībātī |
| Pashto | pus | کيريباتي | Kīrībātī |
| Uyghur | uig | كىرىباتى / Kiribati / Кирибати | Kiribati |
| Urdu | urd | کیریباتی / کیریباتی, کریبتی | Kīrībātī, Kirībatī |
| Dhivehi | div | ކިރިބަތީ | Kiribatī |
| Hebrew | heb | קיריבטי, קיריבאטי | Qīrībaṭī, Qīrībāṭī |
| Ladino | lad | קיריבאטי / Kiribati | Kiribati |
| Yiddish | yid | קיריבאַטי | Kiribati |
| Greek | ell | Κιριμπάτι | Kirimpáti |
| Armenian | hye | Կիրիբատի, Քիրիբաթի | Kiribati, K̕iribat̕i |
| Georgian, Mingrelian | kat / xmf | კირიბატი | Kiribati |
| Laz | lzz | კირიბატი / K’iribat’i | K’iribat’i |
| Hindi | hin | किरिबाटी | Kiribāṭī |
| Bengali | ben | কিরিবাতি, কিরিবাস | Kiribāti, Kiribās |
| Gujarati | guj | કિરિબાટી | Kiribāṭī |
| Odia | ori | କିରିବାଟି | Kiribāṭi |
| Punjabi | pan | ਕੀਰੀਬਾਟੀ | Kīrībāṭī |
| Sinhala | sin | කිරිබතී | Kiribatī |
| Kannada | kan | ಕಿರಿಬಾತಿ | Kiribāti |
| Malayalam | mal | കിരിബാത്തി, കിരിബാതി | Kiribātti, Kiribāti |
| Tamil | tam | கிரிபாட்டி, கிரிபடி | Kiripāṭṭi, Kiripaṭi |
| Telugu | tel | కిరిబాతి | Kiribāti |
| Chinese | zho | 基裡巴斯/基里巴斯 | Jīlǐbāsī |
| Japanese | jpn | キリバス | Kiribasu |
| Korean | kor | 키리바시 | Kiribasi |
| Tibetan | bod | ཀི་རི་བ་ཏི། | Ki.ri.ba.ti |
| Burmese | mya | ကိရဘတ် | Kíẏábʰaʿ |
| Thai | tha | คิริบาส, คิริบาตี | Kʰiribāt, Kʰiribātī |
| Khmer | khm | គិរិបាទី, គីរីបាទី | Kiribātī, Kīrībātī |
Kiribati, Kiribas, Quiribati: spelling and sound
The name Kiribati is the Gilbertese rendering of Gilberts, the islands that make up the western group, and in Gilbertese the letters ti are spoken as s. That is why the name is pronounced Kiribas, and why several languages write what they hear. Bislama and Tok Pisin spell it Kiribas, Tetum Kiribás, Haitian Creole Kiribès. Japanese writes キリバス (Kiribasu), Chinese 基里巴斯 (Jīlǐbāsī) and Korean 키리바시, all with the s. Arabic, Persian and Bengali list both forms, as in Arabic كيريباتي beside كيريباس.
Most languages written in Latin letters keep the spelling: 64 of them write Kiribati unchanged. The rest adapt it to their own spelling. Galician and Portuguese write Quiribati, Welsh Ciribati, Irish Cireabaití and Manx Yn Chiribati with the article. Hawaiian and Tongan replace the r with l, Kilipaki and Kilipati, while Samoan keeps it and changes the b: Kiripati.
The capital Bairiki changes little. Lithuanian adds its ending, Bairikis, Esperanto makes it Bairiko, and Cyrillic writes Байрики (Bajriki).
Bairiki, the capital of Kiribati, in other languages
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, French, Latvian, German, Luxembourgish, Low German, Irish | eng / fra / lav / deu / ltz / nds / gle | Bairiki | same as written |
| Lithuanian, Samogitian | lit / smg | Bairikis | same as written |
| Azerbaijani | aze | Bayriki / Бајрики | Bayriki |
| Bosnian | bos | Bairiki / Баирики / بايرٖىقٖى | Bairiki |
| Esperanto | epo | Bairiko | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Bayrîkî | same as written |
| Moldovan | mol | Bairiki / Байрики | Bairiki |
| Malay | msa | Bairiki / بايريكي | Bairiki |
| Turkmen | tuk | Baýriki / Байрики | Baýriki |
| Uzbek | uzb | Bayriki / Байрики / بەيرىكى | Bayriki |
| Bulgarian, Mongolian, Russian | bul / mon / rus | Байрики | Bajriki |
| Bashkir | bak | Байрики / Bayriki | Bayriki |
| Belarusian | bel | Байрыкі / Bajryki | Bajryki |
| Kazakh | kaz | Байрики / بايريكي / Bayrïkï | Bayrïkï |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Байрики / بايرىكى / Bayriki | Bayriki |
| Serbian | srp | Бајрики / Bajriki | Bajriki |
| Tatar | tat | Байрики / Bayriki / بايرىكى | Bayriki |
| Tajik | tgk | Байрики / بیریکی / Bajriki | Bajriki |
| Ukrainian | ukr | Баїрікі | Baïriki |
| Arabic | ara | بايريكي | Bāyrīkī |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | بایریکی / Bayriki | Bayriki |
| Persian | fas | بایریکی / Bâyriki | Bâyriki |
| Pashto | pus | بيريکي | Bayrīkī |
| Uyghur | uig | بايرىكى / Bayriki / Байрики | Bayriki |
| Urdu | urd | بایریکی | Bāyrīkī |
| Hebrew | heb | ביריקי / בייריקי, באיריקי | Bayrīqī, Bāyrīqī |
| Yiddish | yid | בײַריקי | Bayriki |
| Greek | ell | Μπαϊρίκι | Mpaïríki |
| Armenian | hye | Բայրիկի | Bayriki |
| Georgian | kat | ბაირიკი | Bairiki |
| Bengali | ben | বাইরিকি | Bāiriki |
| Kannada | kan | ಬಾಯ್ರಿಕಿ | Bāyriki |
| Chinese | zho | 巴裡克/巴里克 | Bālǐkè |
| Japanese | jpn | バイリキ | Bairiki |
| Korean | kor | 바이리키 | Bairiki |
| Thai | tha | ไบริคิ | Bairikʰi |
The three island groups of Kiribati
ISO 3166-2 divides Kiribati into three island groups, spread over a wide stretch of the Pacific. Each is listed with the main settlement named in this list.
| ISO 3166-2 | Name | English | Administrative centre | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Island groups3 | ||||
| KI-G | Gilbert Islands | Gilbert Islands | BairikiBairiki | |
| KI-L | Line Islands | Line Islands | KiritimatiKiritimati | |
| KI-P | Phoenix Islands | Phoenix Islands | KantonKanton | |
Codes: ISO 3166-2:KI on the ISO Online Browsing Platform, read from the English Wikipedia table that reproduces it on 28 October 2026; ISO has changed only remarks and the list source since 2014. Island groups and main settlements: the 2017 edition of this list.
Gilbert, Line and Phoenix Islands
The three groups carry English names, and ISO 3166-2 lists them without Gilbertese forms. The Gilbert Islands hold the capital Bairiki and most of the towns on this list: Betio, Bikenibeu, Teaoraereke, Eita, Bonriki and Temwaiku. The Line Islands are administered from Kiritimati, Christmas Island in English, whose villages Tabwakea and London appear among the ten largest places. The Phoenix Islands have their centre at Kanton.
The codes KI-G, KI-L and KI-P take the first letter of each group. Nothing in the set has changed since ISO first published it; the only entries in its history are an update of the list source and a correction of the French short name in 2014.
Teirake Kaini Kiribati (Stand up, Kiribati), the national anthem
Teirake Kaini Kiribati (Stand up, Kiribati) has been the national anthem since independence in 1979. Ioteba Tamuera Uriam wrote the Gilbertese words and the music.
Questions about the names of Kiribati
What is the capital of Kiribati?
Bairiki, in the Gilbert Islands. In other languages it is Bairikis in Lithuanian, Байрики in Russian and バイリキ in Japanese.
How is Kiribati pronounced?
As Kiribas. In Gilbertese ti is spoken as s; Japanese キリバス and Bislama Kiribas follow the sound.
What is the official name of Kiribati in Gilbertese?
Ribaberikin Kiribati, the Republic of Kiribati.