Decades of phosphate strip-mining left roughly 80 percent of Nauru's land surface as barren, uninhabitable limestone pinnacles, among the most severe cases of mining-driven environmental degradation anywhere in the world.
Record no. MRB-2026-006964
Most environmentally degraded country from phosphate strip-mining
Reference Record – Not Certified
This record is compiled from publicly available sources for reference. It has not been examined or certified by The Book of World Records.