The soil is poor, but the islands are well covered by coconut palms that provide copra, the main export. A rainy season usually lasts from October to March. The people of Kiribati are mostly of Micronesian origin. The islet of Bairiki is somewhat urbanized, but most of the people on the other islands live in villages of thatched huts. The official language is English, but it is rarely spoken away from Tarawa Atoll.
Most families fish and grow bananas, breadfruit, papaws, and taro.
Various explorers visited the islands from 1537 until 1870. Britain declared a protectorate over the Gilbert Islands in 1892, and the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony was formed in 1916. The colony was later extended to include most of the Phoenix and Line groups. During World War II the Gilberts were occupied by the Japanese. Racial tension and economic rivalries in the 1960s caused the Gilbert Islands and the Ellice Islands to form separate colonies in 1976.