Skip to content
islandyas
EN

Nauru NauruIsland

Nauru

21.8 km² of land in the Pacific Ocean.

When to go

Nauru seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
ArijejenMenenYangorYarenBaitiAnabarAnibare
N 1 km

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

21.8km²

Area

19km

Coastline

64m

Highest point

13,650

People

29°C

Warmest sea

June

2,880km

To the mainland

When to go to Nauru

Best for the beach from January to March and from October to November.

The sea is warmest in June (29 °C) and coolest in February (29 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days Best months

Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.

Main (and only) island in the country of Nauru

Nauru is an island in Nauru. It covers 21.8 km², with 19 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 64 m. About 13,650 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 2,880 km away.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there

  • Nauru International Airport (INU)airport on the island, with scheduled flights
  • 2,880 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
  • From January to March and from October to Novemberbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)

Plan the trip

Ferries, stays and things to do

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

On the island

What you find on Nauru.

  • 10beachesAnabar Beach and 9 more
  • 11viewpointsLagoon viewpoint, Gun, Bunker and 8 more
  • 3marinasAiwo Harbour, Anibare Harbour, Gabab Channel
  • 1named peaksCommand Ridge
  • 5hotels, guesthouses and apartments
  • 19restaurants, cafés and bars

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 24 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.

  • 99 %0–50 m
  • 1 %50–200 m

Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).

Size, for real

Next to islands you may know.

Nauru22 km²
Manhattan54 km²
Santorini76 km²

5 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

Towns on the island

  • Arijejen2,381 people
  • Denigomodu1,804 people
  • Menen1,400 people
  • Yangor1,258 people
  • Yaren1,100 people
  • Baiti810 people
  • Anabar378 people
  • Anibare373 people
  • Uaboe330 people
  • Ijuw180 people

Month by month

The weather on the island.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)292828282929292829282929
Night low (°C)282828282828282828282828
Sea (°C)292929292929292929292929
Rain (mm)194192193161116107122118108118133202
Wet days191818201918181816141518
Sun h/day7.27.27.57.88.68.58.48.88.89.08.37.5
Wind (km/h)171818161414151516151517

Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.

Recent years

Warmer and cooler years at sea.

Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020+1.0+1.3+1.0+0.6+0.1+0.2−0.1−0.5−0.8−0.8−0.9−0.7
2021−1.4−1.0−0.7±0.0+0.4+0.3±0.0+0.1−0.8−0.7−1.1−0.8
2022+0.3+0.1−0.6−1.0−0.9−0.8−1.3−1.3−1.4−1.2−0.9−0.8
2023−0.8−0.6−0.3+0.4+0.5+0.6+0.7+0.5+1.0+0.8+0.8+0.6
2024+1.0+1.2+0.3+0.4+0.8+0.9+0.8+0.7+0.5+0.1±0.0−0.5
2025−0.5−0.9−1.0−0.4−0.3±0.0±0.0±0.0−0.3−0.5−0.1+0.4

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q30151675) · CC0
Outline© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Sea temperatureNOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
ClimateNASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
TownsGeoNames · CC BY 4.0
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit