212 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
212 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
NAURU
|
||
GEOGRAPHY
|
||
Total area: 21 km2; land area: 21 km2
|
||
|
||
Comparative area: about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC
|
||
|
||
Land boundaries: none
|
||
|
||
Coastline: 30 km
|
||
|
||
Maritime claims:
|
||
|
||
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
|
||
|
||
Territorial sea: 12 nm
|
||
|
||
Climate: tropical; monsoonal; rainy season (November to February)
|
||
|
||
Terrain: sandy beach rises to fertile ring around raised coral reefs
|
||
with phosphate plateau in center
|
||
|
||
Natural resources: phosphates
|
||
|
||
Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures
|
||
0%; forest and woodland 0%; other 100%
|
||
|
||
Environment: only 53 km south of Equator
|
||
|
||
Note: Nauru is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in
|
||
the Pacific Ocean--the others are Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and
|
||
Makatea in French Polynesia
|
||
|
||
PEOPLE
|
||
Population: 9,333 (July 1991), growth rate 1.4% (1991)
|
||
|
||
Birth rate: 19 births/1,000 population (1991)
|
||
|
||
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
|
||
|
||
Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)
|
||
|
||
Infant mortality rate: 41 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
|
||
|
||
Life expectancy at birth: 64 years male, 69 years female (1991)
|
||
|
||
Total fertility rate: 2.1 children born/woman (1991)
|
||
|
||
Nationality: noun--Nauruan(s); adjective--Nauruan
|
||
|
||
Ethnic divisions: Nauruan 58%, other Pacific Islander 26%, Chinese
|
||
8%, European 8%
|
||
|
||
Religion: Christian (two-thirds Protestant, one-third Roman
|
||
Catholic)
|
||
|
||
Language: Nauruan, a distinct Pacific Island language (official);
|
||
English widely understood, spoken, and used for most government and
|
||
commercial purposes
|
||
|
||
Literacy: NA% (male NA%, female NA%)
|
||
|
||
Labor force: NA
|
||
|
||
Organized labor: NA
|
||
|
||
GOVERNMENT
|
||
Long-form name: Republic of Nauru
|
||
|
||
Type: republic
|
||
|
||
Capital: no capital city as such; government offices in Yaren
|
||
District
|
||
|
||
Administrative divisions: 14 districts; Aiwo, Anabar, Anetan,
|
||
Anibare, Baiti, Boe, Buada, Denigomodu, Ewa, Ijuw, Meneng, Nibok, Uaboe,
|
||
Yaren
|
||
|
||
Independence: 31 January 1968 (from UN trusteeship under Australia,
|
||
New Zealand, and UK); formerly Pleasant Island
|
||
|
||
Constitution: 29 January 1968
|
||
|
||
Legal system: own Acts of Parliament and British common law
|
||
|
||
National holiday: Independence Day, 31 January (1968)
|
||
|
||
Executive branch: president, Cabinet
|
||
|
||
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament
|
||
|
||
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
|
||
|
||
Leaders:
|
||
|
||
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Bernard DOWIYOGO
|
||
(since 12 December 1989)
|
||
|
||
Political parties and leaders: none
|
||
|
||
Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 20
|
||
|
||
Elections:
|
||
|
||
President--last held 9 December 1989 (next to be held December
|
||
1992);
|
||
results--Bernard DOWIYOGO elected by Parliament;
|
||
|
||
Parliament--last held on 9 December 1989 (next to be held
|
||
December 1992);
|
||
results--percent of vote NA;
|
||
seats--(18 total) independents 18
|
||
|
||
Member of: C (special), ESCAP, ICAO, INTERPOL, ITU, SPC, SPF, UPU
|
||
|
||
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador-designate Theodore
|
||
Conrad MOSES resident in Melbourne (Australia); there is a Nauruan
|
||
Consulate in Agana (Guam);
|
||
|
||
US--the US Ambassador to Australia is accredited to Nauru
|
||
|
||
Flag: blue with a narrow, horizontal, yellow stripe across the
|
||
center and a large white 12-pointed star below the stripe on the hoist
|
||
side; the star indicates the country's location in relation to the
|
||
Equator (the yellow stripe) and the 12 points symbolize the 12 original
|
||
tribes of Nauru
|
||
|
||
ECONOMY
|
||
Overview: Revenues come from the export of phosphates, the reserves
|
||
of which are expected to be exhausted by the year 2000. Phosphates have
|
||
given Nauruans one of the highest per capita incomes in the Third
|
||
World--$10,000 annually. Few other resources exist so
|
||
most necessities must be imported, including fresh water from
|
||
Australia. The rehabilitation of mined land and the replacement of income
|
||
from phosphates constitute serious long-term problems. Substantial
|
||
investment in trust funds, out of phosphate income, will help cushion the
|
||
transition.
|
||
|
||
GNP: over $90 million, per capita $10,000; real growth rate NA%
|
||
(1989)
|
||
|
||
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
|
||
|
||
Unemployment rate: 0%
|
||
|
||
Budget: revenues $69.7 million; expenditures $51.5 million,
|
||
including capital expenditures of $NA (FY86 est.)
|
||
|
||
Exports: $93 million (f.o.b., 1984);
|
||
|
||
commodities--phosphates;
|
||
|
||
partners--Australia, NZ
|
||
|
||
Imports: $73 million (c.i.f., 1984);
|
||
|
||
commodities--food, fuel, manufactures, building materials,
|
||
machinery;
|
||
|
||
partners--Australia, UK, NZ, Japan
|
||
|
||
External debt: $33.3 million
|
||
|
||
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
|
||
|
||
Electricity: 14,000 kW capacity; 50 million kWh produced,
|
||
5,430 kWh per capita (1990)
|
||
|
||
Industries: phosphate mining, financial services, coconuts
|
||
|
||
Agriculture: negligible; almost completely dependent on imports for
|
||
food and water
|
||
|
||
Economic aid: Western (non-US) countries (1970-1988), $2 million
|
||
|
||
Currency: Australian dollar (plural--dollars);
|
||
1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents
|
||
|
||
Exchange rates: Australian dollars ($A) per US$1--1.2834 (January
|
||
1991), 1.2799 (1990), 1.2618 (1989), 1.2752 (1988), 1.4267 (1987), 1.4905
|
||
(1986), 1.4269 (1985)
|
||
|
||
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
|
||
|
||
COMMUNICATIONS
|
||
Railroads: 3.9 km; used to haul phosphates from the center of the
|
||
island to processing facilities on the southwest coast
|
||
|
||
Highways: about 27 km total; 21 km paved, 6 km improved earth
|
||
|
||
Ports: Nauru
|
||
|
||
Merchant marine: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 31,261
|
||
GRT/39,838 DWT; includes 1 passenger-cargo, 2 bulk
|
||
|
||
Civil air: 3 major transport aircraft, one on order
|
||
|
||
Airports: 1 with permanent-surface runway 1,220-2,439 m
|
||
|
||
Telecommunications: adequate intraisland and international radio
|
||
communications provided via Australian facilities; 1,600 telephones;
|
||
4,000 radios; stations--1 AM, no FM, no TV; 1 Pacific Ocean
|
||
INTELSAT earth station
|
||
|
||
DEFENSE FORCES
|
||
Branches: no regular armed forces; Directorate of the Nauru
|
||
Police Force
|
||
|
||
Manpower availability: males 15-49, NA; NA fit for military service
|
||
|
||
Defense expenditures: no formal defense structure
|
||
|
||
|