KEY FACTS

Joined Commonwealth: 1968
Population: 10,000 (2012)
Official language: English
Time: GMT plus 12hr
Currency: Australian dollar

Geography

Area: 21.3 sq km
Coastline: 30 km

Nauru is a small oval-shaped island in the western Pacific Ocean.

Main towns:

Yaren (pop. 4,800 in 2010), Aiwo, Denigomodu, Uaboe, Anabar, Ijuw and Meneng. Nauru has no capital; government offices are in Yaren district.

Society

KEY FACTS 2012

Population per sq km: 478
Life expectancy: 66 years (est.)

Population:

10,000 (2012); 100 per cent of people live in urban areas; growth 0.4 per cent p.a. 1990–2012; birth rate 20 per 1,000 people (est.); life expectancy 66 years (est.) The indigenous people of Nauru are Micronesians. Increased population since the 1960s has put extreme pressure on the coastal fringe surrounding the island, which is currently the only space available for housing.

Language:

Nauruan and English are spoken, but English, the official language, is the usual written language.

Education:

There are 11 years of compulsory education starting at the age of six. Primary school comprises six years and secondary six, with cycles of four and two years.The school year starts in January. Students go overseas for higher education, mainly to Australia and New Zealand, and scholarships are available for this. Nauru is a partner in the regional University of the South Pacific, which has a centre in Nauru and its main campus in Suva, Fiji.