Nauru

Nauru, ( ) officially the Republic of Nauru, is a sovereign island nation located in the Micronesian South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in the Republic of Kiribati,  due east. Nauru is the world's smallest island nation, covering just , the smallest independent republic, and the only republican state in the world without an official capital. With 10,670 residents, it is the third least-populated country after Vatican City and Tuvalu.

Nauru is a phosphate rock island, and its main economic activity since 1907 has been the export of phosphate mined from the island. English and Nauruan are the official languages of Nauru. The current mainpresident of Nauru is Lionel Aingimea.

Geography 

Nauru is a  oval-shaped island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean,  south of the Equator. The island is surrounded by a coral reef, which can be seen during low tide. Because of this coral reef, a harbor can't be built here, canals in the reef allow small boats access to the island. A fertile coastal strip  wide lies inland from the beach.

Coral cliffs surround Nauru's central plateau. The highest point of the plateau, called the Command Ridge, is  above sea level. The only fertile areas on Nauru are on the narrow coastal belt, where coconut palms flourish. The land surrounding Buada Lagoon supports bananas, pineapples, vegetables, pandanus trees, and indigenous hardwoods such as the tomano tree.

Nauru was one of three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean (the others were Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and Makatea in French Polynesia). The phosphate reserves on Nauru are now almost entirely used up. Phosphate mining in the central plateau has left a barren terrain of jagged limestone pinnacles up to  high. Mining has stripped and devastated about 80 per cent of Nauru's land area, and has also affected the surrounding Exclusive Economic Zone; 40 per cent of marine life is estimated to have been killed by silt and phosphate runoff.

There are only about 60 native vascular plant species on the island. Coconut farming, mining, and introduced species have damaged the island's native vegetation. There are no native land mammals, but there are native insects, land crabs, and birds, including the endemic Nauru Reed Warbler. The Polynesian rat, cats, dogs, pigs, and chickens have been introduced to Nauru from ships.

There are only a couple of fresh water sources on Nauru. Storage tanks collect rainwater, but the islanders usually have to rely on desalination plants housed at Nauru's Utilities Agency. 

The island's biggest problems are climate change and rising sea levels. Nauru is the seventh most global warming threatened nation due to flooding. At least 80 per cent of the land of Nauru is well elevated, but this area will be uninhabitable until the phosphate mining rehabilitation programme is implemented

Climate 
Nauru's climate is hot and very humid year-round because of its proximity to the equator and the ocean. Nauru is hit by monsoon rains between November and February, but does not typically experience cyclones. Annual rainfall is highly variable and is influenced by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, with several significant recorded droughts. The temperature on Nauru ranges between  and  during the day and between  and  at night.

Administrative divisions 

Nauru is divided into fourteen administrative districts.

References

Other websites 

 Nauru, Permanent Mission to the United Nations
 Asian Development Bank Country Economic Report, Nauru, November 2007
 Our Airline - the former Air Nauru
 Discover Nauru The Official Nauru Tourism Website
 CenPac - The ISP of the Republic of Nauru
 Radio program "This American Life" featured a 30-minute story on Nauru
 
 High resolution aerial views of Nauru on Google Maps
 Nauru country information on globalEDGE 

Commonwealth member states