Home

Geography of Nauru

Location:Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, south of the Marshall Islands
Geographic coordinates:0 32 S, 166 55 E
Map references:Oceania
Area:total: 21 sq km
land: 21 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative:about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries:0 km
Coastline:30 km
Maritime claims:territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate:tropical with a monsoonal pattern; rainy season (November to February)
Terrain:sandy beach rises to fertile ring around raised coral reefs with phosphate plateau in center
Elevation extremes:lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location along plateau rim 61 m
Natural resources:phosphates, fish
Land use:arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 100% (2005)
Irrigated land:NA
Natural hazards:periodic droughts
Environment - current issues:limited natural fresh water resources, roof storage tanks collect rainwater, but mostly dependent on a single, aging desalination plant; intensive phosphate mining during the past 90 years - mainly by a UK, Australia, and NZ consortium - has left the central 90% of Nauru a wasteland and threatens limited remaining land resources
Environment - international agreements:party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:Nauru is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean - the others are Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and Makatea in French Polynesia; only 53 km south of Equator

Nauru Quickstats

  • Population: 13,528 (July 2007 est.)
  • Area: 21 sq km
  • Density: 621 /km² (13th)
  • GDP (total): $60 million (224th)
  • GDP (per capita): $5,000 (2005
  • Literacy:

Languages of Nauru

Useful to know

  • Currency: Australian dollar (AUD)
  • Dial code: +674

International Trade

External sites

More Resources

Recent blog posts