GEOGRAPHY
Nauru is a small oval-shaped island
in the western Pacific Ocean, located just 42 kilometers (26 mi.)
south of the Equator. It is one of three great phosphate rock
islands in the Pacific Ocean--the others are Banaba (Ocean Island)
in Kiribati and Makatea in French Polynesia--though its phosphate
reserves are nearly depleted. Phosphate mining in the central
plateau has left a barren terrain of jagged coral pinnacles, up
to 15 meters (49 ft.) high. A century of mining has stripped and
devastated four-fifths of the total land area.
The island is surrounded by a coral
reef, exposed at low tide and dotted with pinnacles. The reef
is bounded seaward by deep water, inside by a sandy beach. A 150-300-meter
(492-984 ft.) wide fertile coastal strip lies landward from the
beach. Coral cliffs surround the central plateau. The highest
point of the plateau is 65 meters (213 ft.) above sea level. The
only fertile areas are the narrow coastal belt, where there are
coconut palms, pandanus trees and indigenous hardwoods, and the
land surrounding Buada lagoon, where bananas, pineapples, and
some vegetables are grown. Some secondary vegetation grows over
the coral pinnacles.
Official
Name: Republic of Nauru
Area: 21 sq. km.
Cities: Capital--no official capital;
government offices in Yaren District.
Terrain: Sandy beach rises to a fertile but narrow
ring around raised coral reefs with phosphate plateau in center.
Climate: tropical; monsoonal; rainy season (November
to February).
