It is a small, uninhabited atoll, approximately 1.2 by 0.8 kilometres (0.75 by 0.50 miles) in size and 65 hectares (160 acres) in area, with a shallow, brackish lagoon that is not connected to the open sea.

[1] Kiribati declared the Phoenix Islands Protected Area in 2006, with the park being expanded in 2008.

It is treeless, being covered mostly with herbs and grasses, and thus forms an excellent landing and nesting site for migratory seabirds and turtles.

Unlike many other Pacific islands, no rats were noted on Rawaki during a 1924 scientific expedition.

Sea birds consist of sooty, grey, and white terns; frigates, petrels and shearwaters; boobies, migratory plover and curlew.

[8] The most abundant coral species at Rawaki Island were: Acropora cytherea, Montipora efflorescens, Cyphastrea chalcidicum, Goniastrea stelligera, Leptastrea purpurea, Montastraea annuligera, Pavona varians, Pocillopora grandis, Porites lutea.