Nauru
Oceania · Yaren · NR
Nauru is the small, strange island country of the central Pacific, the single raised coral islet of barely twenty-one square kilometres that stands alone in the ocean between the islands of the Micronesia and the Solomons, one of the smallest and most isolated nations of the earth. Once the wealthy phosphate island of the Pacific, whose seabird deposits built the fortunes of the twentieth century, it saw its interior stripped into the extraordinary lunar badlands of the mined plateau, while the coastal ring of the island held the parliament, the schools and the cramped, resilient life of the people. The country has been many things through its strange history, a British and then an Australian administered territory, an independent republic of the new constitution, and a Pacific detention destination of the refugee age, and its tiny scale magnifies every chapter. A coral plateau with an ocean at its feet and a moonscape at its heart, Nauru is the least visited country of the entire Pacific.
Overview
Nauru is a country in Oceania. Its capital is Yaren and the international dialling code is +674. Languages commonly used in everyday life here include Nauruan and English. Local currency is the Australian Dollar (AUD). We also list 1 city in Nauru: Yaren.
The Raised Island of the Coral and the Plateau of the Phosphate
The island of the Nauru is an extraordinary geological oddity, a raised atoll whose coral rock was thrust above the sea to form the flat, forested plateau of the interior that once held the world's richest deposits of the phosphate rock. The mining of the twentieth century stripped the plateau of its topsoil and its vegetation, carving the interior into the strange coral badlands of the pinnacles that loom above the dusty terraces of the mined land today. The walks across this scarred heartland, with its crumbling pillars of the reef rock and its thin regrowth, tell the entire economic and environmental story of the island, the fortune built and the landscape spent, in a single stark landscape without anywhere else on earth.
The Ring of the Coast and the Lagoon of the Buada
Around the ruined interior runs the living ring of the island, the narrow coastal bench where the low houses, the churches, the schools and the gardens of the Nauruan people crowd between the shore and the great central ridge of the island. The only patch of the real freshwater of the country, the small, calm lake of the Buada in the southern hollow, shades the wet heart of the islet with its birds and its fruit trees, a rare green oasis in the coral world. The coastal road of the island, circling the land in an easy hour of the driving, touches the parliament building, the fringing reefs and the jetty of the harbour, and gives the complete, intimate scale of the smallest republic of the Pacific.
The Bay of the Anibare and the Reef of the East
The eastern coast of the island, facing the open ocean of the Pacific, holds the most beautiful stretch of the natural Nauru, the sweeping sands of the bay of the Anibare and the great boulder-strewn reef terrace that fronts the surf of the east. The famous waves of the point, where the reef breaks beyond the coral shelf, are among the celebrated breaks of the Pacific surfing, and the early mornings of the island find the surfers of the residence out on the clean, empty swell. The fringing reef of the whole island, the platform of the coral that rings the shoreline and shelters the fish of the shallows, and the turtles that haul onto the beaches of the southern shore, complete the natural loop of the coast of the island.
The Birds of the Islet and the Waters of the Offshore
The outer rocks and the reefs of the island waters, beyond the scoured interior, hold the wildlife that the miners and the settlers never managed to erase, the seabirds and the reef life that crowd the ledges and the channels of the coastal ring. The noddies, the frigatebirds and the terns of the island, and the turtles and the fish of the fringing reef, give the Nauruan shore its persistent natural life, undimmed by the strange industrial history of the plateau. The fishing of the island, the night spearfishing of the reef flats and the boat trips of the outer waters, keeps the deep Pacific tradition of the community alive on the smallest viable nation of the ocean.
The Capital of the Yaren and the Institutions of the Republic
The tiny parliamentary district of the Yaren, the de facto capital of the island on the southern coast, concentrates the entire machinery of the Nauruan state onto a single short stretch of the shoreline, the parliament building, the government offices and the courts of the republic standing in the everyday shadow of the houses of the town. Few nations present their whole government so tightly and so approachably, and the visits of the district, with the historical centre, the market and the modest institutions of the state, give the complete citizenry of the nation at a single walking loop. The museum and the archives of the island, with their stories of the phosphate, the war and the republic, close the extraordinary tale of the smallest independent country of the Pacific.
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- Capital
- Yaren
- Currency
- Australian Dollar (AUD)
- Languages
- Nauruan, English
- Calling code
- +674
- Internet TLD
- nr
Entry requirements
Check who can enter →See which passports travel visa-free or need a visa to enter Nauru.
Cities (1)
All cities →Frequently asked questions
What is the capital of Nauru?
Yaren is the capital of Nauru, and the country sits in Oceania.
What currency is used in Nauru?
You pay with Australian Dollar (AUD) in Nauru. Exchange rates move day to day, so check the current rate before you change money or use your card abroad.
Which languages do people speak in Nauru?
The languages we list for Nauru are Nauruan and English. A couple of greetings in the local language go a long way when you travel, even in cities where another language is widely used.
What is the international dialling code for Nauru?
The dialling code for Nauru is +674 — keep the plus sign when you save the number.
Which cities in Nauru do you cover?
Our guide lists 1 city for Nauru: Yaren (capital).