Nauru Geography - 2004

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 - as described in UNCLOS 1982 (see Notes and Definitions):
territorial sea: 12 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
contiguous zone: 24 NM

Climate:
tropical with a monsoonal pattern; 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