Postage stamps and postal history of Kiribati Postage stamps and postal history of Kiribati This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Kiribati. The Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. It is composed of 32 atolls and one raised coral island, dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometres, and straddling the equator. Kiribati was formerly the Gilbert Islands, part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands which split into Kiribati and Tuvalu upon gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1978 and 1979. The first stamps of Kiribati were a pair issued on 19 November 1979 to
Geology of the Pacific Ocean Geology of the Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean evolved in the Mesozoic from the Panthalassic Ocean, which had formed when Rodinia rifted apart around 750 Ma. The first ocean floor which is part of the current Pacific Plate began 160 Ma to the west of the central Pacific and subsequently developed into the largest oceanic plate on Earth. The tectonic plates continue to move today. The slowest spreading ridge is the Gakkel Ridge on the Arctic Ocean floor, which spreads at less than , while the fastest, the East Pacific Rise near Easter Island, has a spreading rate of over