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Nauru: map, flag, capital and key facts

Nauru is a country in Oceania, with about 12,000 people (2025) and an area of 20 square kilometres. Its capital is Yaren, and it has no land borders.

By Team Geography Last reviewed

Flag of Nauru
Flag of Nauru
Map showing where the country sits among its neighbours
Nauru in solid, land neighbours outlined, capital marked.

Key facts about Nauru

CapitalYaren
ContinentOceania
Population12,025 2025, World Bank. 193rd of 195.
Area20 km² (7.72 sq mi) World Bank, surface area. 193rd largest of 195.
Population density601 people per km²
Land neighboursNone. It has no land borders with another country.
Official nameRepublic of Nauru
UN statusMember state
Capital coordinates0.55° S, 166.92° E Yaren, Natural Earth.

No land borders

Nauru shares no land border with another country. Its nearest neighbours are across the sea, as the map above shows.

From the Geography app

The app teaches each country through short hand written lenses: PLACE for physical geography, STORY for history and identity, NOW for the news, and THREAD for the ties between countries. Here is one of Nauru's 7, in full.

PLACELens 1 of 7

The third-smallest country on Earth

Nauru is a single raised coral island of just 21 square kilometers in the central Pacific, making it the third-smallest country by area after Vatican City and Monaco. It has no rivers, no harbor, and no capital city in the formal sense; government offices are in the Yaren district. A narrow fertile coastal strip rings a barren, mined-out limestone plateau that covers 80 percent of the interior.

More on mined-out limestone plateau

Decades of phosphate mining stripped the island's interior down to jagged coral pinnacles, leaving a lunar landscape that supports almost no vegetation. Rehabilitation efforts have made limited progress, and Nauru must import nearly all its food.

6 more lenses on Nauru in the app

  • STORY From richest per capita to near collapse
  • NOW Australia's offshore detention island
  • STORY A nation searching for a second act
  • THREAD Diplomatic recognition as a revenue source
  • NOW After the phosphate, Nauru looks to the seabed
  • THREAD One rock fed the world and ate an island

Titles only. The app brings each lens back on a spaced repetition schedule set by how well you knew it: New, Hazy or Clear.

Compare Nauru with another country

Opens the country comparison tool with population, area, income and more side by side, every figure dated.

Common questions

What is the capital of Nauru?
The capital of Nauru is Yaren. Yaren lies at about 0.5 degrees south and 166.9 degrees east. Nauru is in Oceania. It is home to about 12,000 people. The world capitals quiz on this site tests every capital, and the printable capitals sheets cover each continent.
What is the population of Nauru?
About 12,000 people live in Nauru, according to the World Bank figures for 2025. That makes it the 193rd most populous of the 195 countries. With an area of 20 square kilometres, that is about 601 people per square kilometre.
What countries border Nauru?
None. Nauru has no land borders with any other country. It is surrounded by sea, so every neighbour of Nauru is across the water. It lies in Oceania. Its area is 20 square kilometres, and about 12,000 people live there.
How big is Nauru?
Nauru covers 20 square kilometres, or about 7.72 square miles. That makes it the 193rd largest of the 195 countries. The figure is total surface area, which includes inland water such as lakes and rivers. Its population of about 12,000 gives a density of 601 people per square kilometre.

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