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
water: 0 sq km
land: 21 sq km

Area - comparative about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries 0 km

Coastline 30 km

Maritime claims
contiguous zone: 24 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM

Climate tropical; monsoonal; 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% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land NA sq km

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
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

NOTE: The information regarding Nauru on this page is re-published from the 2002 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Nauru Geography 2002 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Nauru Geography 2002 should be addressed to the CIA.