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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.
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Overview 
