Naurú

Area: 21.3 sq km (8.2 sq miles).

Population: 11,845 (official estimate 2000).

Population Density: 556 per sq km.

Capital: Aiwo: 600 (1992).

GEOGRAPHY: Nauru, the world’s smallest republic, is an oval-shaped outcrop, situated in the Central Pacific, west of Kiribati, surrounded by a reef which is exposed at low tide. Although there is no deep-water harbour on the island, offshore moorings are reputedly the deepest in the world. A century of phosphate mining has stripped four-fifths of the land area, and has left the central plateau, which rises to 56m (213ft), infertile and unpopulated: a barren terrain of jagged coral pinnacles which stand 15m (49ft) high. The island has a fertile coastal strip 150 to 300m (492 to 984ft) wide, where there are coconut palms, pandanus trees and indigenous hardwoods such as the tomano. On the land surrounding Buada lagoon, bananas, pineapples and some vegetables are grown. Some secondary vegetation grows over the coral pinnacles which intersperse the island’s beaches.

Government: Republic. Gained independence from Australia in 1968. Head of State and Government: President Ludwig Scotty since 2004.

Language: Nauruan and English are spoken.

Religion: Christian, mostly Nauruan Protestant Church. There is also a significant Roman Catholic minority.

Electricity: 240 volts AC, 50Hz.

SOCIAL CONVENTIONS: The island has a casual atmosphere in which diplomacy and tact are always preferable to confrontation; European customs continue alongside local traditions.