No official capital; government offices in the Yaren District
Nauru
Key facts and a structured country profile. 🧾 Change log 📐 True Size
Locator 🗺️ Map
9,930 (2025 est.)
21 sq km
Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, south of the Marshall Islands
🧭 Background
By 1000 B.C., Micronesian and Polynesian settlers inhabited Nauru, and the island was divided among 12 clans. Nauru developed in relative isolation because ocean currents made landfall on the island difficult. As a result, the Nauruan language does not clearly resemble any other in the Pacific region. In 1798, a British mariner was the first European to spot the island and by 1830, European whalers used Nauru as a supply stop, trading firearms for food. A civil war in 1878 reduced the population by more than a third. Germany forcibly annexed Nauru in 1888 by holding the 12 chiefs under house arrest until they consented to the annexation. Phosphate was discovered in 1900 and was heavily mined, although Nauru and Nauruans earned about one tenth of one percent of the profits from the phosphate deposits. Australian forces captured Nauru from Germany during World War I, and in 1919, it was placed under a joint Australian-British-New Zealand mandate with Australian administration. Japan occupied Nauru during World War II and used its residents as forced labor elsewhere in the Pacific while destroying much of the infrastructure on the island. After the war, Nauru became a UN trust territory under Australian administration. In 1962, recognizing the phosphate stocks would eventually be depleted, Australian Prime Minister Robert MENZIES offered to resettle all Nauruans on Curtis Island in Queensland, but Nauruans rejected that plan and opted for independence, which was achieved in 1968. In 1970, Nauru purchased the phosphate mining assets, and income from the mines made Nauruans among the richest people in the world. However, a series of unwise investments led to near bankruptcy by 2000. Widespread phosphate mining officially ceased in 2006. As its economy faltered, Nauru briefly tried to rebrand itself as an offshore banking haven, an initiative that ended in 2005, and the country made a successful bid for Russian humanitarian aid in 2008. In 2001, Australia set up the Nauru Regional Processing Center (NRPC), an offshore refugee detention facility, paying Nauru per person at the center. The NRPC closed in 2008 but reopened in 2012. The number of refugees steadily declined after 2014, and in 2020, the remaining people were moved to Brisbane, Australia, effectively shuttering the NRPC. However, in 2023, Australia agreed to continue funding NRPC for two years and restarted settling asylees in the center in mid-2023. The center remains the Government of Nauru’s largest source of income.
🗺️ Geography
Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, south of the Marshall Islands
0 32 S, 166 55 E
Oceania
21 sq km
21 sq km
0 sq km
About 0.1 times the size of Washington, D.C.
0 km
30 km
12 nm
24 nm
200 nm
Tropical with a monsoonal pattern; rainy season (November to February)
Sandy beach rises to fertile ring around raised coral reefs with phosphate plateau in center
Command Ridge 70 m
Pacific Ocean 0 m
Phosphates, fish
20% (2023 est.)
Arable land: 0% (2022 est.)
Permanent crops: 20% (2023 est.)
Permanent pasture: 0% (2022 est.)
0% (2022 est.)
80% (2023 est.)
0 sq km (2022)
Most people live in the fertile coastal areas, especially along the southwest coast
Periodic droughts
Nauru is the third-smallest country in the world behind the Holy See (Vatican City) and Monaco; it is the smallest country in the Pacific Ocean, the smallest country outside Europe, the world's smallest island country, and the world's smallest independent republic; situated just 53 km south of the equator, 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
👥 People and Society⬆️ Top
9,930 (2025 est.)
4,874
5,056
Nauruan(s)
Nauruan
Nauruan 94.6%, I-Kiribati 2.2%, Fijian 1.3%, other 1.9% (2021 est.)
Nauruan 93% (official, a distinct Pacific Island language), English 2% (widely understood, spoken, and used for most government and commercial purposes), other 5% (includes Gilbertese 2% and Chinese 2%) (2011 est.)
Protestant 60.4% (Nauruan Congregational 34.7%, Assemblies of God 11.6%, Pacific Light House 6.3%, Nauru Independent 3.6%, Baptist 1.5, Seventh Day Adventist 1.3%, other Protestant 1.4%), Roman Catholic 33.9%, other 4.2%, none 1.3%, no answer 0.3% (2021 est.)
29.6% (male 1,493/female 1,433)
66% (male 3,220/female 3,309)
4.4% (2024 est.) (male 143/female 294)
50.7 (2025 est.)
43.7 (2025 est.)
7 (2025 est.)
14.4 (2025 est.)
28.2 years (2025 est.)
27.3 years
28.4 years
0.37% (2025 est.)
19.64 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
6.55 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
-9.37 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Most people live in the fertile coastal areas, especially along the southwest coast
100% of total population (2023)
0.18% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
1.04 male(s)/female
1.04 male(s)/female
0.97 male(s)/female
0.49 male(s)/female
0.96 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
273 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
7.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
9.8 deaths/1,000 live births
5.3 deaths/1,000 live births
68.6 years (2024 est.)
65 years
72.3 years
2.52 children born/woman (2025 est.)
1.24 (2025 est.)
Total: 100% of population
Urban: 0% of population
Total: 0% of population (2020 est.)
13.1% of GDP (2021)
11.8% of national budget (2022 est.)
1.27 physicians/1,000 population (2015)
61% (2016)
2.44 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
0.54 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
0.09 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
1.81 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
47.7% (2025 est.)
49.3% (2025 est.)
46.1% (2025 est.)
3.8% (2023 est.)
57.7% (2021 est.)
5.7% of GDP (2023 est.) NA
6.6% national budget (2025 est.)
96.6% (2023 est.)
93.4% (2023 est.)
99.7% (2023 est.)
🌿 Environment⬆️ Top
Limited natural freshwater resources; effects of intensive phosphate mining that left the central 90% of Nauru a wasteland; air and water pollution from cadmium residue, phosphate dust, and other contaminants; rising sea levels
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling
None of the selected agreements
Tropical with a monsoonal pattern; rainy season (November to February)
20% (2023 est.)
Arable land: 0% (2022 est.)
Permanent crops: 20% (2023 est.)
Permanent pasture: 0% (2022 est.)
0% (2022 est.)
80% (2023 est.)
100% of total population (2023)
0.18% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
86,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
86,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)
7.4 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
6,200 tons (2024 est.)
10 million cubic meters (2022 est.)
🏛️ Government⬆️ Top
Republic of Nauru
Nauru
Republic of Nauru
Nauru
Pleasant Island
The island name may derive from the Nauruan word "anaoero" meaning "I go to the beach"; the former name, Pleasant Island, came from British navigator John Frean, who visited in 1798
Parliamentary republic
No official capital; government offices in the Yaren District
UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
14 districts; Aiwo, Anabar, Anetan, Anibare, Baitsi, Boe, Buada, Denigomodu, Ewa, Ijuw, Meneng, Nibok, Uaboe, Yaren
Mixed system of common law based on the English model and customary law
Effective 29 January 1968
Proposed by Parliament; passage requires two-thirds majority vote of Parliament; amendments to constitutional articles, such as the republican form of government, protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, the structure and authorities of the executive and legislative branches, also require two-thirds majority of votes in a referendum
Has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
20 years of age; universal and compulsory
President David ADEANG (since 30 October 2023)
President David ADEANG (since 30 October 2023)
Cabinet appointed by the president from among members of Parliament
President indirectly elected by Parliament for 3-year term (eligible for a second term)
14 October 2025
2025: David ADEAGN elected president (unopposed) 2023: David ADEAGN elected president over Delvin THOMA, 10-8
2028
Parliament
Unicameral
19 (all directly elected)
Plurality/majority
Full renewal
3 years
10/11/2025
10.5%
October 2028
Supreme Court (consists of the chief justice and several justices)
Judges appointed by the president to serve until age 65
District Court, Family Court
Nauru does not have formal political parties; alliances within the government are often formed based on extended family ties
Ambassador Lara Erab DANIEL (since 13 January 2025); note - also Permanent Representative to the UN
801 2nd Avenue, Third Floor, New York, NY 10017
[1] (212) 937-0074
[1] (212) 937-0079
Nauru@onecommonwealth.org https://www.un.int/nauru/
The US does not have an embassy in Nauru; the US Ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Nauru
ACP, ADB, AOSIS, C, FAO, G-77, ICAO, ICCt, IFAD, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO
31 January 1968 (from the Australia-, NZ-, and UK-administered UN trusteeship)
Independence Day, 31 January (1968)
Description: blue with a narrow horizontal gold stripe across the center and a large white 12-pointed star below the stripe on the left side meaning: blue stands for the Pacific Ocean; the star indicates the country's location in relation to the equator (the gold stripe), and the 12 points stand for the original tribes of Nauru; the star's white color represents phosphate, the basis of the island's wealth
Frigatebird, calophyllum flower
Blue, yellow, white
"Nauru Bwiema" (Nauru, Our Homeland)
Margaret HENDRIE/Laurence Henry HICKS
Adopted 1968
💹 Economy⬆️ Top
Upper-middle-income Pacific island country; phosphate resource exhaustion made island interior uninhabitable; licenses fishing rights; houses Australia’s Regional Processing Centre; former tax haven; largely dependent on foreign subsidies
$150.581 million (2024 est.)
$147.976 million (2023 est.)
$147.026 million (2022 est.)
1.8% (2024 est.)
0.6% (2023 est.)
3% (2022 est.)
$12,600 (2024 est.)
$12,500 (2023 est.)
$12,500 (2022 est.)
$160.351 million (2024 est.)
2.6% (2022 est.)
2.4% (2021 est.)
1.8% (2020 est.)
Coconuts, tropical fruits, pork, eggs, pork offal, pork fat, chicken, papayas, vegetables, cabbages (2023)
Phosphate mining, offshore banking, coconut products
0.6% of GDP (2023 est.)
0.6% of GDP (2022 est.)
0.7% of GDP (2021 est.)
$199.74 million (2020 est.)
$157.86 million (2020 est.)
65% of GDP (2016 est.)
44.4% (of GDP) (2020 est.)
$1.923 million (2023 est.)
$2.966 million (2022 est.)
$6.597 million (2021 est.)
$64.931 million (2023 est.)
$78.383 million (2022 est.)
$54.403 million (2021 est.)
Thailand 78%, Philippines 11%, NZ 5%, Japan 1%, Canada 1% (2023)
Fish, phosphates (2023)
$150.193 million (2023 est.)
$165.371 million (2022 est.)
$141.185 million (2021 est.)
Australia 50%, Japan 11%, Fiji 9%, Senegal 9%, China 9% (2023)
Ships, titanium ore, refined petroleum, plastic products, other foods (2023)
Australian dollars (AUD) per US dollar -
1.515 (2024 est.)
1.505 (2023 est.)
1.442 (2022 est.)
1.331 (2021 est.)
1.453 (2020 est.)
⚡ Energy⬆️ Top
100% (2022 est.)
19,000 kW (2023 est.)
37.893 million kWh (2023 est.)
3.922 million kWh (2023 est.)
88% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)
12% of total installed capacity (2023 est.)
500 bbl/day (2023 est.)
📡 Communications⬆️ Top
0 (2019 est.) 0
(2022 est.) less than 1
10,300 (2022 est.)
87 (2022 est.)
1 state-owned TV station broadcasting programs from New Zealand; 1 state-owned radio station, broadcasting on AM and FM, uses Australian and British programs (2019)
.nr
82% (2020 est.)
1,000 (2022 est.)
10 (2022 est.)
🚚 Transportation⬆️ Top
C2
1 (2025)
6 (2023)
Other 6
1 (2024)
0
0
0
1
1
Nauru
🛡️ Military and Security⬆️ Top
No regular military forces; Nauru Police Force
Under the terms of a security deal signed in December 2024, Australia and Nauru agreed to “deepen and expand security cooperation” and “consult and consider” in the event of threats; Nauru pledged to seek Australia’s agreement before it signed any bilateral accords on maritime security, defense, and policing, and would receive Australian financial assistance in support of Nauru's police and security needs Nauru has a "shiprider" agreement with the US, which allows local maritime law enforcement officers to embark on US Coast Guard (USCG) and US Navy (USN) vessels, including to board and search vessels suspected of violating laws or regulations within Nauru's designated exclusive economic zone (EEZ) or on the high seas; "shiprider" agreements also enable USCG personnel and USN vessels with embarked USCG law enforcement personnel to work with host nations to protect critical regional resources (2025)
🌐 Transnational Issues⬆️ Top
95 (2024 est.)
Source: Factbook JSON archive.