Maiana is a district

District

Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...

 of Kiribati

Kiribati

Kiribati , officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. The permanent population exceeds just over 100,000 , and is composed of 32 atolls and one raised coral island, dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometres, straddling the...

 and an atoll

Atoll

An atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...

 in the North Gilbert Islands

Gilbert Islands

The Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are the main part of Republic of Kiribati and include Tarawa, the site of the country's capital and residence of almost half of the population.-Geography:The atolls and islands of the Gilbert Islands...

. The north and eastern sides of the atoll are a single island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 whilst the western edge consists of submerged reef

Reef

In nautical terminology, a reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water ....

s, all surrounding a lagoon

Lagoon

A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...

. The atoll is 14 km long and 9.5 km wide.

In the late 19th century, Maiana was, for a while, compelled to pay tribute to the king of Abemama

Abemama

Abemama is an atoll in the central part of the Kiribati Group located 152 kilometres southeast of Tarawa and just north of the Equator.- Geography :...

, Tembinok'

Tembinok'

Tembinok’, or Tem Binoka, was the ruler of Abemama, Aranuka and Kuria, in the Gilbert Islands, during the late 19th century. Tembinok’'s grandfather, Teñkoruti , was the ruler of a village on Abemama, which was then experiencing devastating feuds...

.

Constituency

Maiana is also a parliamentary constituency for the national House of Assembly

House of Assembly of Kiribati

The House of Assembly of Kiribati has 46 members, 44 elected for a four year term in single-seat and multi-seat constituencies, 1 delegate from Banaba Island and 1 ex-officio member .Created with the Constitution of 12 July 1979, its new seat is at Ambo since October 2000, on South Tarawa...

. It currently elects two representatives. At present, the MPs for Maiana are Dr Anote Tong

Anote Tong

Anote Tong is an I-Kiribati politician with Chinese heritage. He is the current President of Kiribati. He won the election in July 2003 with a slim plurality of votes cast against his brother, Dr. Harry Tong and the private lawyer Banuera Berina...

 and Teiwaki Areieta. Tong is also the President of Kiribati

President of Kiribati

The President of Kiribati is the head of state and head of government of Kiribati.Following a general election, by which citizens elect the members of the House of Assembly, members select from their midst "not less than 3 nor more than 4 candidates" for the presidency. No other person may stand...

.