Geography & environment — Nauru
Location, land area, terrain, climate, and natural resources.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Geography & environment at a glance
Location, land area, terrain, climate, and natural resources. Key figure for Nauru: Oceania
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Location & size
- Geographic Location
Oceania
- Geographic Coordinates
0 32 S, 166 55 E
- Total Area
8 Square Miles 21 Square Kilometers
- Land Area
8 Square Miles 21 Square Kilometers
- Coastline
19 Miles 30 Kilometers
Physical geography
- Terrain
sandy beach rises to fertile ring around raised coral reefs with phosphate plateau in center
- Highest Point
61 Meters
- Highest Point Location
unnamed location along plateau rim 61 m
- Lowest Point Location
Pacific Ocean 0 m
- Natural Resources
phosphates, fish
Climate & time
- Time Zone
UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Climate
- 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
- Location
Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, south of the Marshall Islands
- Total Area
8 Square Miles 21 Square Kilometers
Environment
- 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