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% (2005)

Irrigated land:

NA

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, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:

Nauru is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the
Pacific Ocean - the others are Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and
Makatea in French Polynesia; only 53 km south of Equator

People
Nauru

Population:

13,770 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 35.5% (male 2,492/female 2,393)
15-64 years: 62.5% (male 4,237/female 4,363)
65 years and over: 2.1% (male 148/female 137) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 21.3 years
male: 20.7 years
female: 21.9 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

1.772% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

24.26 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

6.54 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

NA (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.08 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 9.43 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 11.84 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 6.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 63.81 years
male: 60.2 years
female: 67.6 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

2.94 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

NA

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

NA