Nauru
- Geography
Location: Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, south of the Marshall Islands
Geographic coordinates: 0 32 S, 166 55 E
Map references: Oceania
Dependant Areas: |
UTC: +11:30
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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
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Aera |
Total: total: 21 sq km
Rank:
238
Land: land: 21 sq km
Water: water: 0 sq km
Area
- comparative: about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC
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Boundaries |
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Boundaries total: 0 km
Boundaries detail:
Coastline: 30 km
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Climate |
tropical; monsoonal; rainy season (November to February)
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Terrain |
sandy beach rises to fertile ring around raised coral reefs with phosphate plateau in center
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Elevation extremes |
lowest
point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location along plateau rim 61 m
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Land use |
Arable land: arable land: 0%
Irrigated land:
Permanent crops: 0%
Permanent pastures: 0%
Forests and woodland: 0%
Other: 100% (2005)
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Natural resources |
phosphates, fish
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Natural hazards |
periodic droughts
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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
international agreements
- party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection
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signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
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Maritime claims |
territorial sea: territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf:
exclusive fishing zone:
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