Short facts about the 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:

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

Land use:

arable land:  0% permanent crops:  0% permanent pastures:  0% forests and woodland:  0% other:  100% (1993 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, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping 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

Source: World Factbook