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, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements