Nauru

**Nauru**, ( ) is a island nation in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Kiribati,  east. Nauru is the smallest island nation, covering just , the smallest republic, and the only republican state without a 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 export since 1907 has been phosphate. English and Nauruan are the official languages. The president is David Adeang.

## 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, a harbor can not be built. Canals let small boats get to the island. An area of ground where plants can easily grow  wide lies inland from the beach.

Coral cliffs surround Nauru's plateau (highland). The highest point, the Command Ridge, is  above sea level. The only fertile areas are near to the ocean, where coconut palms flourish. The land surrounding Buada Lagoon supports bananas, pineapples, vegetables, pandanus trees, and hardwoods such as the tomano tree.

Nauru was one of three great phosphate rock (bird droppings) 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 used up. Phosphate mining in the plateau has left a bare area of land with limestone peaks up to  high. Mining has stripped and destroyed about 80 per cent of Nauru's land, and has affected the surrounding Exclusive Economic Zone. About 40 per cent of marine life has been killed by mud and phosphate drainage.

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  Nauru Reed Warbler. The Polynesian rat, cats, dogs, pigs, and chickens have been introduced to Nauru from ships.

There are only a few fresh water sources on Nauru. Storage tanks collect rainwater, but the islanders usually have to rely on desalination plants 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 improvement programme is started

## Climate

Nauru's climate is hot and very humid year-round because of how close it is to the equator and the ocean. Nauru is hit by monsoon rains between November and February, but does not usually have cyclones. How much rain there is every year is highly variable, and is influenced by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. There have been many droughts in Nauru because of this. The temperature on Nauru ranges between  and  during the day, and between  and  at night.

## Administrative divisions

Nauru is divided into fourteen administrative districts.

|Nr.||District||Former Name||Area (ha) || Population (2005) || No. of villages || Density persons / ha|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1|Aiwo|Aiue|100|1,092|8|10.9|
|2|Anabar|Anabar|143|502|15|3.5|
|3|Anetan|Añetañ|100|516|12|5.2|
|4|Anibare|Anybody|314|160|17|0.5|
|5|Baiti|Beidi|123|572|15|4.7|
|6|Boe|Boi|66|795|4|12.0|
|7|Buada|Buada|266|716|14|2.7|
|8|Denigomodu|Denikomotu|118|2,827|17|24.0|
|9|Ewa|Eoa|117|318|12|2.7|
|10|Ijuw|Ijub|112|303|13|2.7|
|11|Meneng|Meneñ|288|1,830|18|6.4|
|12|Nibok|Ennibeck|136|432|11|3.2|
|13|Uaboe|Ueboi|97|335|6|3.5|
|14|Yaren|Moqua|150|820|7|5.5|
||**Nauru**|Naoero|2,130|11,218|169|5.3|

## 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

## Infobox (country)

- **conventional long name**: Republic of Nauru
- **common name**: Nauru
- **image flag**: Flag of Nauru.svg
- **image coat**: Coat of arms of Nauru.svg
- **national motto**: "God's will first"
- **national anthem**:

- **image map**: Nauru on the globe (Polynesia centered).svg
- **capital**: Yaren_District, Yaren  Officially none<sup>a</sup>
- **largest city**: Denigomodu District, Denigomodu
- **official languages**: * English language, English
* Nauruan language, Nauruan
- **languages type**: Commonly spoken
- **languages**: English
- **demonym**: Nauruan
- **government type**: Unitary state, Unitary parliamentary republic under a non-partisan democracy
- **leader title1**: President of Nauru, President
- **leader name1**: David Adeang
- **leader title2**: List of Speakers of the Parliament of Nauru, Speaker of the Parliament
- **leader name2**: Marcus Stephen
- **legislature**: Parliament of Nauru, Parliament
- **sovereignty type**: Independence
- **established event1**: , <small>(from the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand)</small>
- **established date1**: 31 January 1968
- **area km2**: 21
- **area rank**: 193rd
- **area sq mi**: 8.1
- **percent water**: 0.57
- **population census**: 11,200
- **population census year**: October 2018
- **population census rank**: 234th
- **population density km2**: 480
- **population density sq mi**: 1,243
- **population density rank**: 25th
- **gdp ppp**: $160 million
- **gdp ppp year**: 2017
- **gdp ppp rank**: 192nd
- **gdp ppp per capita**: $12,052
- **gdp ppp per capita rank**: 94th
- **gdp nominal**: $114 million
- **gdp nominal year**: 2017
- **gdp nominal per capita**: $8,570
- **currency**: Australian dollar
- **currency code**: AUD
- **utc offset**: +12
- **drives on**: Right- and left-hand traffic, left
- **calling code**: +674
- **cctld**: .nr
- **footnote a**: Nauru does not have an official capital, but Yaren is the largest settlement and the seat of parliament.
- **footnote b**: English is not an official language, but it is widely spoken by the majority of the population and it is commonly used in government, legislation and commerce alongside Nauruan. Due to Nauru's history and relationship with Australia, Australian English is the dominant variety. And is _de facto_ official.