Nauru (Nauruan: Naoero ) is a small island in the South Pacific Ocean south of the Marshall Islands and is the world’s third-smallest country; only Monaco and the Vatican City are smaller. An off-the-beaten-track destination if there ever was one, Nauru is also one of the least visited countries in the world, with about only 200 tourists a year. The remoteness and that much of the island is a charmless open phosphate mine are two strong reasons for this.