Kiribati has a history of contrived and ritualized duels. The armor was made of thickly woven sennet, a kind of coconut fiber. The duelists wore helmets made of blowfish remains. The helmets were resilient and, due to the structure of blowfish, covered in many points, which had the ability of damaging weapons. The weapons resembled broadswords with a serrated edge created with many sharkteeth. The duels were performed mostly for the purpose of settling disputes and maintaining honor. The practicality of the duels is debatable. Due to the difficulty of moving in this armor, falling over and becoming unable to get back up was common enough that duel assistants were required. For an account of the Steven Spielberg film, see Duel (movie). ... Alternative meanings: vehicle armour, Armor (novel) A hoplite wearing a helmet, a breastplate and greaves (and nothing else). ... Pith helmet of Harry S. Truman A helmet is a form of protective clothing worn on the head and usually made of metal or some other hard substance, typically for protection from falling objects or high-speed collisions. ... The term broadsword was originally used to describe the straight double-edged basket-hilted swords of Europe during the 17th through 19th centuries. ...
Kiribati became an independent sovereign nation on 12 July, 1979 incorporating within its boundaries the former Gilbert Islands, the Line Islands and the Phoenix Islands.
After independence in 1979, the Kiribati government continued the exploration and development of marine resources as an integral part of its overall economic program, and is being assisted in the process by foreign aid, principally by Britain and Japan.
As the book deals with the culture of the people who have inhabited the islands for a considerable period of time, Professor Koch felt it would be sensible to refer to the islands and the people by their present names rather than their former ones.
Kiribati was inhabited by a single Micronesian ethnic group that spoke the same Oceanic language for 2,000 years before coming into contact with Europeans.
In 1943, the Battle of Tarawa was fought at Kiribati's capital Tarawa.
Based on a 1995 realignment of the International Date Line, Kiribati is now the easternmost country in the world, and was the first country to enter into the year 2000.
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