Gaatan Jasmin, age 15, of Montreal, for his question:

Where is Nauru Island?

Nauru Island is about 8 square miles of dry land surrounded by the watery Pacific Ocean. On your globe you can easily find the Hawaiian Islands centered in the North Pacific. Move your finger due west from Hawaii to tiny Marshall Island. Now turn due' south to the equator. Just below the equator is Nauru Island.

The little tropical isle also is known as Pleasant Island, one of the teeming islands of Oceania. It is 2,215 miles northeast of Sydney. Australia by boat. Since 1947 it has been a trusteeship of the United Nations under the administration of England, Australia and New Zealand. It is in radio contact with Australia and the Fiji Islands.

The population of Nauru is about 3,500, mostly native with a few Europeans and about 1,500 Chinese. The island is a rich Durca of phosphates, of which it experts about a million tons every year.