NAURU                                                                           
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 21 km2; land area: 21 km2                                           
                                                                                
Comparative area: about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC                    
                                                                                
Land boundaries: none                                                           
                                                                                
Coastline: 30 km                                                                
                                                                                
Maritime claims:                                                                
                                                                                
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;                                                 
                                                                                
Territorial sea: 12 nm                                                          
                                                                                
Climate: tropical; monsoonal; rainy season (November to February)               
                                                                                
Terrain: sandy beach rises to fertile ring around raised coral reefs            
with phosphate plateau in center                                                
                                                                                
Natural resources: phosphates                                                   
                                                                                
Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures              
0%; forest and woodland 0%; other 100%                                          
                                                                                
Environment: only 53 km south of Equator                                        
                                                                                
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                                                     
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 9,333 (July 1991), growth rate 1.4% (1991)                          
                                                                                
Birth rate: 19 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                    
                                                                                
Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)                       
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 41 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                       
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 64 years male, 69 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 2.1 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Nauruan(s); adjective--Nauruan                               
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: Nauruan 58%, other Pacific Islander 26%, Chinese              
8%, European 8%                                                                 
                                                                                
Religion: Christian (two-thirds Protestant, one-third Roman                     
Catholic)                                                                       
                                                                                
Language: Nauruan, a distinct Pacific Island language (official);               
English widely understood, spoken, and used for most government and             
commercial purposes                                                             
                                                                                
Literacy: NA% (male NA%, female NA%)                                            
                                                                                
Labor force: NA                                                                 
                                                                                
Organized labor: NA                                                             
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: Republic of Nauru                                               
                                                                                
Type: republic                                                                  
                                                                                
Capital: no capital city as such; 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 UN trusteeship under Australia,             
New Zealand, and UK); formerly Pleasant Island                                  
                                                                                
Constitution: 29 January 1968                                                   
                                                                                
Legal system: own Acts of Parliament and British common law                     
                                                                                
National holiday: Independence Day, 31 January (1968)                           
                                                                                
Executive branch: president, Cabinet                                            
                                                                                
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament                                       
                                                                                
Judicial branch: Supreme Court                                                  
                                                                                
Leaders:                                                                        
                                                                                
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Bernard DOWIYOGO               
(since 12 December 1989)                                                        
                                                                                
Political parties and leaders: none                                             
                                                                                
Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 20                                    
                                                                                
Elections:                                                                      
                                                                                
President--last held 9 December 1989 (next to be held December                  
1992);                                                                          
results--Bernard DOWIYOGO elected by Parliament;                                
                                                                                
Parliament--last held on 9 December 1989 (next to be held                       
December 1992);                                                                 
results--percent of vote NA;                                                    
seats--(18 total) independents 18                                               
                                                                                
Member of: C (special), ESCAP, ICAO, INTERPOL, ITU, SPC, SPF, UPU               
                                                                                
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador-designate Theodore                        
Conrad MOSES resident in Melbourne (Australia); there is a Nauruan              
Consulate in Agana (Guam);                                                      
                                                                                
US--the US Ambassador to Australia is accredited to Nauru                       
                                                                                
Flag: 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                                                                 
                                                                                
ECONOMY                                                                         
Overview: Revenues come from the export of phosphates, the reserves             
of which are expected to be exhausted by the year 2000. Phosphates have         
given Nauruans one of the highest per capita incomes in the Third               
World--$10,000 annually. Few other resources exist so                           
most necessities must be imported, including fresh water from                   
Australia. The rehabilitation of mined land and the replacement of income       
from phosphates constitute serious long-term problems. Substantial              
investment in trust funds, out of phosphate income, will help cushion the       
transition.                                                                     
                                                                                
GNP: over $90 million, per capita $10,000; real growth rate NA%                 
(1989)                                                                          
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%                                           
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: 0%                                                           
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $69.7 million; expenditures $51.5 million,                     
including capital expenditures of $NA (FY86 est.)                               
                                                                                
Exports: $93 million (f.o.b., 1984);                                            
                                                                                
commodities--phosphates;                                                        
                                                                                
partners--Australia, NZ                                                         
                                                                                
Imports: $73 million (c.i.f., 1984);                                            
                                                                                
commodities--food, fuel, manufactures, building materials,                      
machinery;                                                                      
                                                                                
partners--Australia, UK, NZ, Japan                                              
                                                                                
External debt: $33.3 million                                                    
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate NA%                                          
                                                                                
Electricity: 14,000 kW capacity; 50 million kWh produced,                       
5,430 kWh per capita (1990)                                                     
                                                                                
Industries: phosphate mining, financial services, coconuts                      
                                                                                
Agriculture: negligible; almost completely dependent on imports for             
food and water                                                                  
                                                                                
Economic aid: Western (non-US) countries (1970-1988), $2 million                
                                                                                
Currency: Australian dollar (plural--dollars);                                  
1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents                                            
                                                                                
Exchange rates: Australian dollars ($A) per US$1--1.2834 (January               
1991), 1.2799 (1990), 1.2618 (1989), 1.2752 (1988), 1.4267 (1987), 1.4905       
(1986), 1.4269 (1985)                                                           
                                                                                
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June                                                     
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Railroads: 3.9 km; used to haul phosphates from the center of the               
island to processing facilities on the southwest coast                          
                                                                                
Highways: about 27 km total; 21 km paved, 6 km improved earth                   
                                                                                
Ports: Nauru                                                                    
                                                                                
Merchant marine: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 31,261                    
GRT/39,838 DWT; includes 1 passenger-cargo, 2 bulk                              
                                                                                
Civil air: 3 major transport aircraft, one on order                             
                                                                                
Airports: 1 with permanent-surface runway 1,220-2,439 m                         
                                                                                
Telecommunications: adequate intraisland and international radio                
communications provided via Australian facilities; 1,600 telephones;            
4,000 radios; stations--1 AM, no FM, no TV; 1 Pacific Ocean                     
INTELSAT earth station                                                          
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: no regular armed forces; Directorate of the Nauru                     
Police Force                                                                    
                                                                                
Manpower availability: males 15-49, NA; NA fit for military service             
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: no formal defense structure                               
                                                                                
