Nauru

In brief

Nauru is a country in Micronesia (Oceania). Its capital is Yaren. With 12,025 inhabitants in 2025, it ranks 193rd in the world by population, out of the 195 countries recognised by the UN. Its area is 21 km². An island nation, Nauru has no land border.

GDP per capita stands at $14,640 (2025), 70th in the world. Life expectancy at birth is 62.3 years (2024). 100% of the population lives in cities.

History of Nauru

Annexed by Germany in 1888, Nauru saw phosphate mining begin in 1906. Administered by Australia after the First World War and occupied by Japan in the Second, the island became independent on 31 January 1968. In the 1970s phosphate made it one of the richest countries per person in the world; its depletion left a devastated central plateau and an economy in crisis. Since 2001 Australia has held asylum seekers there.

Geography of Nauru

The third-smallest country in the world, at 21 km², Nauru is a raised coral island. People live on the narrow coastal strip; the interior, mined for phosphate, is largely unusable. The country has no official capital.

Map of Nauru

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Flag of Nauru

The flag of Nauru is blue and yellow. Its official proportions are 1:2 (height to width).

• Blue90%
• Yellow8%
• White2%

Share of the flag’s surface taken by each colour.

What the flag stands for

Blue, with a thin yellow band for the equator and, just below it, a white twelve-pointed star for the island’s twelve tribes, which lies a little south of the equator.

Sources: Wikipedia, articles “Nauru” and “Flag of Nauru”.

See also: flags with a star.

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Fact file

Economy and society