Nauru

Aerial view of Nauru

Nauru is a 21 square kilometres (8 sq mi)[3] oval-shaped island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, 42 kilometres (26 mi) south of the equator. The island is surrounded by a coral reef, which can be seen during low tide.[4] Because of this coral reef, a harbor can not be built here. Canals in the reef let small boats get to the island.[6] A fertile coastal strip 150 to 300 metres (490 to 980 ft) wide lies inland from the beach.[4]

Coral cliffs surround Nauru's central plateau. The highest point of the plateau, called the Command Ridge, is 71 metres (233 ft) above sea level.[7] 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.[4]

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 15 metres (49 ft) high. Mining has stripped and devastated about 80 per cent of Nauru's land area, and has also affected the surrounding Exclusive Economic Zone. About 40 per cent of marine life has been killed by silt and phosphate runoff.[4][8]

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.[9] 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.[10]

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. [11]

The island's biggest problems are climate change and rising sea levels. Nauru is the seventh most global warming threatened nation due to flooding.[12] 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

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.[9][13] The temperature on Nauru ranges between 26 °C (79 °F) and 35 °C (95 °F) during the day, and between 22 °C (72 °F) and 34 °C (93 °F) at night.[8][14]

Nauru is divided into fourteen administrative districts.[4]

The 14 districts of Nauru.

• Wikimedia Atlas of Nauru
• 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
• Nauru at the Open Directory Project
• High resolution aerial views of Nauru on Google Maps
• Nauru country information on globalEDGE Archived 2007-10-24 at the Wayback Machine

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nauru.