Nauru

§1. Nauru Introduction

Background:
  Nauru's phosphate deposits began to be mined early in the 20th century by a
  German-British consortium; the island was occupied by Australian forces in
  World War I. Nauru achieved independence in 1968 and joined the UN in 1999.
  Nauru is the world's smallest independent republic.

§2. Nauru Geography

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 km²
  land: 21 km²
  water: 0 km²

Area - comparative:
  about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:
  0 km

Coastline:
  30 km

Maritime claims:
  territorial sea: 12 nm
  contiguous zone: 24 nm
  exclusive economic zone: 200 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% (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
  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

§3. Nauru People

Population:
  13,287 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 36.9% (male 2,507/female 2,391)
  15-64 years: 61.2% (male 4,004/female 4,123)
  65 years and over: 2% (male 139/female 123) (2006 est.)

Median age:
  total: 20.6 years
  male: 20 years
  female: 21.2 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:
  1.81% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
  24.76 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
  6.7 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
  0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:
  at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
  under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
  15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
  65 years and over: 1.13 male(s)/female
  total population: 1 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
  total: 9.78 deaths/1,000 live births
  male: 12.29 deaths/1,000 live births
  female: 7.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 63.08 years
  male: 59.5 years
  female: 66.84 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  3.11 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  NA

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
  NA

Nationality:
  noun: Nauruan(s)
  adjective: Nauruan

Ethnic groups:
  Nauruan 58%, other Pacific Islander 26%, Chinese 8%, European 8%

Religions:
  Christian (two-thirds Protestant, one-third Roman Catholic)

Languages:
  Nauruan (official, a distinct Pacific Island language), English widely
  understood, spoken, and used for most government and commercial purposes

Literacy:
  definition: NA
  total population: NA
  male: NA
  female: NA

§4. Nauru Government

Country name:
  conventional long form: Republic of Nauru
  conventional short form: Nauru
  former: Pleasant Island

Government type:
  republic

Capital:
  no official capital; government offices in Yaren District

Administrative divisions:
  14 districts; Aiwo, Anabar, Anetan, Anibare, Baiti, Boe, Buada, Denigomodu,
  Ewa, Ijuw, Meneng, Nibok, Uaboe, Yaren

Independence:
  31 January 1968 (from the Australia-, NZ-, and UK-administered UN
  trusteeship)

National holiday:
  Independence Day, 31 January (1968)

Constitution:
  29 January 1968; amended 17 May 1968 (Constitution Day)

Legal system:
  acts of the Nauru Parliament and British common law; accepts compulsory ICJ
  jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage:
  20 years of age; universal and compulsory

Executive branch:
  chief of state: President Ludwig SCOTTY (since 26 October 2004); note - the
    president is both the chief of state and head of government
  head of government: President Ludwig SCOTTY (since 26 October 2004); note -
    the president is both the chief of state and head of government
  cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from among the members of
    Parliament
  elections: president elected by Parliament for a three-year term; election
    last held 23 October 2004 (next to be held NA 2007)
  election results: Ludwig SCOTTY was unopposed in the parliamentary
    elections for president

Legislative branch:
  unicameral Parliament (18 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve
  three-year terms)
  elections: last held 3 May 2003 (next to be held not later than May 2006)
  election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - Nauru First Party 3,
    independents 15

Judicial branch:
  Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders:
  loose multiparty system; Democratic Party [Kennan ADEANG]; Nauru Party
  (informal) [leader NA]; Nauru First (Naoero Amo) Party [leader NA]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
  NA

International organization participation:
  ACP, AsDB, C, FAO, ICAO, ICCt, Interpol, IOC, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca,
  SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador Vinci Niel CLODUMAR
  chancery: 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400 D, New York, NY 10017
  telephone: [1] (212) 937-0074
  FAX: [1] (212) 937-0079
  consulate(s): Agana (Guam)

Diplomatic representation from the US:
  the US does not have an embassy in Nauru; the US Ambassador to Fiji is
  accredited to Nauru

Flag description:
  blue with a narrow, horizontal, yellow stripe across the center and a large
  white 12-pointed star below the stripe on the hoist side; the star
  indicates the country's location in relation to the Equator (the yellow
  stripe) and the 12 points symbolize the 12 original tribes of Nauru

§5. Nauru Economy

Economy - overview:
  Revenues of this tiny island have traditionally come from exports of
  phosphates, now significantly depleted. An Australian company in 2005
  entered into an agreement intended to exploit remaining supplies. Few other
  resources exist with most necessities being imported, mainly from
  Australia, its former occupier and later major source of support. The
  rehabilitation of mined land and the replacement of income from phosphates
  are serious long-term problems. In anticipation of the exhaustion of
  Nauru's phosphate deposits, substantial amounts of phosphate income were
  invested in trust funds to help cushion the transition and provide for
  Nauru's economic future. As a result of heavy spending from the trust
  funds, the government faces virtual bankruptcy. To cut costs the government
  has frozen wages and reduced overstaffed public service departments. In
  2005, the deterioration in housing, hospitals, and other capital plant
  continued, and the cost to Australia of keeping the government and economy
  afloat continued to climb. Few comprehensive statistics on the Nauru
  economy exist, with estimates of Nauru's GDP varying widely.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
  $60 million (2005 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
  NA

GDP - real growth rate:
  NA%

GDP - per capita (PPP):
  $5,000 (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: NA%
  industry: NA%
  services: NA%

Labor force - by occupation:
  employed in mining phosphates, public administration, education, and
  transportation

Unemployment rate:
  90% (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line:
  NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: NA%
  highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  -3.6% (1993)

Budget:
  revenues: $13.5 million
  expenditures: $13.5 million (2005)

Agriculture - products:
  coconuts

Industries:
  phosphate mining, offshore banking, coconut products

Industrial production growth rate:
  NA%

Electricity - production:
  23 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - consumption:
  21.39 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports:
  0 kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports:
  0 kWh (2003)

Oil - production:
  0 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - consumption:
  1,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - exports:
  NA bbl/day

Oil - imports:
  NA bbl/day

Natural gas - production:
  0 m³ (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
  0 m³ (2003 est.)

Exports:
  $64,000 f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Exports - commodities:
  phosphates

Exports - partners:
  South Africa 43.4%, Germany 20.7%, India 11.8%, Japan 7.2%, Poland 4%
  (2004)

Imports:
  $20 million c.i.f. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:
  food, fuel, manufactures, building materials, machinery

Imports - partners:
  Australia 65.6%, Indonesia 5.4%, Germany 5.3%, UK 4.4% (2004)

Debt - external:
  $33.3 million (2002)

Economic aid - recipient:
  mostly from Australia

Currency (code):
  Australian dollar (AUD)

Exchange rates:
  Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419
  (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001)

Fiscal year:
  1 July - 30 June

§6. Nauru Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  1,900 (2002)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  1,500 (2002)

Telephone system:
  general assessment: adequate local and international radiotelephone
    communication provided via Australian facilities
  domestic: NA
  international: country code - 674; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat
    (Pacific Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations:
  AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998)

Television broadcast stations:
  1 (1997)

Internet country code:
  .nr

Internet hosts:
  52 (2005)

Internet users:
  300 (2002)

§7. Nauru Transportation

Airports:
  1 (2005)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 1
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2005)

Ports and terminals:
  Nauru

§8. Nauru Military

Military branches:
  no regular military forces; Nauru Police Force

Manpower available for military service:
  males age 18-49: 2,874 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
  males age 18-49: 1,963 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
  NA

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
  NA

Military - note:
  Nauru maintains no defense forces; under an informal agreement, defense is
  the responsibility of Australia

§9. Nauru Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  none


<Factbook 2006>
