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Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru, formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an
Nauru was first settled by Micronesians at least 3,000 years ago, and there is evidence of possible Polynesian influence. Comparatively little is known of Nauruan prehistory, although the island is believed to have had a long period of isolation, which accounts for the distinct language that developed among the inhabitants. There were traditionally 12 clans or tribes on Nauru, which are represented in the twelve-pointed star on the country's flag. Traditionally,
island country
An island country, island state, or island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historically ...
and microstate
A microstate or ministate is a sovereign state having a very small population or land area, usually both. However, the meanings of "state" and "very small" are not well-defined in international law. Some recent attempts to define microstates ...
in the South Pacific Ocean
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
. It lies within the Micronesia
Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...
subregion of Oceania
Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...
, with its nearest neighbour being Banaba
BanabaThe correct spelling and etymology in Gilbertese should be ''Bwanaba'' but the Constitution of Kiribati writes Banaba. Because of the spelling in English or French, the name was very often written Paanapa or Paanopa, as it was in 1901 A ...
(part of Kiribati
Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of the 2020 census, and more than half live on Tarawa. The st ...
) about to the east.
With an area of only , Nauru is the third-smallest country in the world, larger than only Vatican City
Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...
and Monaco
Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...
, making it the smallest republic
A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
and island nation, as well as the smallest member state of the Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...
by area. Its population of about 10,800 is the world's third-smallest (not including colonies or overseas territories). Nauru is a member of the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
, the Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...
, and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States
The Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS, French language, French: ''Organisation des États d'Afrique, des Caraïbes et du Pacifique'') is a group of countries of the world, countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the ...
.
Settled by Micronesians
The Micronesians or Micronesian peoples are various closely related ethnic groups native to Micronesia, a region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They are a part of the Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, which has an Urheimat in Taiwan.
Eth ...
circa 1000 BCE
Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the o ...
, Nauru was annexed
Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to ...
and claimed as a colony by the German Empire
The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
in the late 19th century. After World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Nauru became a League of Nations mandate
A League of Nations mandate represented a legal status under international law for specific territories following World War I, involving the transfer of control from one nation to another. These mandates served as legal documents establishing th ...
administered by Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, and the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. During World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Nauru was occupied by Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
troops, and was bypassed by the Allied advance across the Pacific. After the war ended, the country entered into United Nations trusteeship
Chapter XII of the United Nations Charter deals with the international trusteeship system. It reaffirms the twin goals mentioned in Chapter XI to "promote the political, economic, social, and educational advancement of the inhabitants of the t ...
. Nauru gained its independence in 1968. At various points since 2001, it has accepted aid from the Australian Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...
in exchange for hosting the Nauru Regional Processing Centre
The Nauru Regional Processing Centre is an offshore Australian immigration detention facility that has been in use from 2001 to 2008, from 2012 to 2019, and from September 2021. It is located on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru and ru ...
, a controversial offshore Australian immigration detention facility. As a result of heavy dependence on Australia, some sources have identified Nauru as a client state
A client state in the context of international relations is a State (polity), state that is economically, politically, and militarily subordinated to a more powerful controlling state. Alternative terms for a ''client state'' are satellite state, ...
of Australia.
Nauru is a phosphate-rock island with rich deposits near the surface, which allowed easy strip mining
Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in which ...
operations for over a century. However, this has seriously harmed the country's environment, causing it to suffer from what is often referred to as the " resource curse". The phosphate
Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus.
In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthop ...
was exhausted in the 1990s, and the remaining reserves are not economically viable for extraction. A trust
Trust often refers to:
* Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality
It may also refer to:
Business and law
* Trust (law), a legal relationship in which one person holds property for another's benefit
* Trust (bu ...
established to manage the island's accumulated mining wealth, set up for the day the reserves would be exhausted, has diminished in value. To earn income, Nauru briefly became a tax haven
A tax haven is a term, often used pejoratively, to describe a place with very low tax rates for Domicile (law), non-domiciled investors, even if the official rates may be higher.
In some older definitions, a tax haven also offers Bank secrecy, ...
and illegal money laundering
Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...
centre.
History
Nauru was first settled by Micronesians at least 3,000 years ago, and there is evidence of possible Polynesian influence. Comparatively little is known of Nauruan prehistory, although the island is believed to have had a long period of isolation, which accounts for the distinct language that developed among the inhabitants. There were traditionally 12 clans or tribes on Nauru, which are represented in the twelve-pointed star on the country's flag. Traditionally, Nauruans
Nauruans are a nation and an ethnic group indigenous to the Pacific island country of Nauru. They are most likely a blend of Micronesian, Melanesian and Polynesian ancestry.
The origin of the Nauruan people has not yet been finally determined ...
traced their descent matrilineally
Matrilineality, at times called matriliny, is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which people identify with their matriline, their mother's lineage, and which can involve the inheritanc ...
. Inhabitants practised aquaculture
Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...
: they caught juvenile milkfish
The milkfish (''Chanos chanos'') is a widespread species of ray-finned fish found throughout the Indo-Pacific. It is the sole living species in the family Chanidae, and the only living member of the genus ''Chanos''.
The repeating scientific na ...
(known as ''Ibija'' in Nauruan), acclimatised them to freshwater, and raised them in Buada Lagoon, providing a reliable food source. The other locally grown components of their diet included coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...
s and pandanus fruit. The name "Nauru" may derive from the Nauruan word ', which means 'I go to the beach.'
In 1798, the British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
sea captain John Fearn, on his trading ship ''Hunter'' (300 tons), became the first Westerner to report sighting Nauru, calling it "Pleasant Island", because of its attractive appearance. From at least 1826, Nauruans had regular contact with Europeans on whaling and trading ships who called for provisions and fresh drinking water. The last whaler
A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales.
Terminology
The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...
to call during the Age of Sail
The Age of Sail is a period in European history that lasted at the latest from the mid-16th (or mid-15th) to the mid-19th centuries, in which the dominance of sailing ships in global trade and warfare culminated, particularly marked by the int ...
visited in 1904.
Around this time, deserters
Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or Military base, post without permission (a Pass (military), pass, Shore leave, liberty or Leave (U.S. military), leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with u ...
from European ships began to live on the island. The islanders traded food for alcoholic palm wine
Palm wine, known by several #Names, local names, is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm trees such as the Borassus, palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms. It is known by various names in different regions and ...
and firearms. The firearms were used during the 10-year Nauruan Civil War
The Nauruan Civil War was fought from 1878 to 1888, between forces loyal to incumbent King Aweida of Nauru and those seeking to depose him in favour of a rival claimant. The war was preceded by the introduction of Firearm, firearms to the island a ...
that began in 1878.
After an agreement with Great Britain, Germany annexed Nauru in 1888 and incorporated it into the Marshall Islands Protectorate for administrative purposes. The arrival of the Germans
Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
ended the civil war, and kings were established as rulers of the island. King Auweyida was the most widely known. Christian missionaries from the Gilbert Islands
The Gilbert Islands (;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this name applied o ...
arrived in 1888. The German settlers called the island "Nawodo" or "Onawero". The Germans ruled Nauru for almost three decades. Robert Rasch
Ludwig August Robert Rasch (1852 – 31 October 1938) was a German settler in Nauru. He was the first resident Administrator of the island.
Biography
Rasch was born in Königsberg in East Prussia in 1852.Albert Fuller Ellis. The Pacific Phosphate Company began to exploit the reserves in 1906 by agreement with Germany, exporting its first shipment in 1907. In 1914, following the outbreak of World War I, Nauru was captured by Australian troops. In 1919, it was agreed by the 
In 1964, it was proposed to relocate the population of Nauru to Curtis Island off the coast of
Nauru is a , oval-shaped island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The island is surrounded by a fringing coral reef, which is exposed at low tide and dotted with 
Coral cliffs surround Nauru's central plateau. The highest point of the plateau, called the Command Ridge, is above sea level.
The only fertile areas on Nauru are on the narrow coastal belt, where
Fauna is sparse on the island because of a lack of vegetation and the consequences of phosphate mining. Many indigenous birds have disappeared or become rare owing to the destruction of their habitat. There are about 60 recorded
The president of Nauru is
Nauru is divided into fourteen administrative districts, which are grouped into eight electoral constituencies and are further divided into villages. The most populous district is
Before a resurgence in the 2010s, the Nauruan economy was strongest in the 1970s, with
Nauru had residents as of July . The population was previously larger, but in 2006 the island saw 1,500 people leave during a repatriation of immigrant workers from Kiribati and Tuvalu. The repatriation was motivated by significant layoffs in phosphate mining.
Nauru is one of the most densely populated Westernization, Westernized countries in the South Pacific.
The official languages of Nauru are Nauruan and English language, English. Nauruan is a distinct Micronesian languages, Micronesian language, which is spoken by 96% of ethnic Nauruans at home. English is widely spoken and is the language of government and commerce.
The main Religion in Nauru, religion practised on the island is Christianity: the main denominations are Nauru Congregational Church (35.71%), Catholic Church (32.96%), Assemblies of God (12.98%), and Baptist (1.48%). The Constitution provides for freedom of religion. However, the government has restricted the religious practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Jehovah's Witnesses, most of whom are foreign workers employed by the government-owned Nauru Phosphate Corporation. The Catholics are pastorally served by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarawa and Nauru, with see at Tarawa in Kiribati.
Nauru has one of the highest child mortality rates in the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) region at 2.9% in 2020, according to a UNICEF study.United Nations Children’s Fund, Situation Analysis of Children in Nauru, UNICEF, Suva, 2017
Life expectancy in Nauru in 2009 was 60.6 years for males and 68.0 years for females.
By measure of List of countries by body mass index, mean body mass index (BMI), Nauruans are the most overweight people in the world; 97% of men and 93% of women are overweight or Obesity, obese. In 2012, the obesity rate was 71.7%. Obesity in the Pacific, Obesity on the Pacific islands is common.
Nauru has the world's highest level of diabetes mellitus type 2, type 2 diabetes, with more than 40% of the population affected. Other significant dietary-related problems on Nauru include Kidney failure, kidney disease and Cardiovascular disease, heart disease.
Nauru has the world's highest tobacco smoking rate (48.3% in 2022).
The island is solely served by Nauru International Airport. Passenger service is provided by Nauru Airlines. Flights operate four days a week to Brisbane Airport, Brisbane, Australia, with limited service to other destinations including Nadi International Airport, Nadi (Fiji) and Bonriki International Airport, Bonriki (Kiribati).
The island has about 30 km (18 miles) of road, and it has about 4 km of railway that was built for mining use a century ago. Nauru is accessible by sea via the Nauru International Port. The modernization and expansion project of the former Aiwo Boat Harbor was expected to be completed in 2021 but has been delayed due to technical and logistics issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Nauru residents today, all food must also be imported because of the loss of 90% of arable land due to phosphate mining, leaving people with a diet of mainly processed foods, such as rice and sugar. Though residents are trying to salvage the soil that they can, some researchers speculate that there will be no regeneration of soils even after the mining ceases. The country's dependence on processed and imported foods along with "cultural, historical, and social factors" have greatly affected the health of its citizens. Despite having all food imported, the Household and Income Expenditure Survey (HIES) conducted for the year of 2012–2013 found that Nauruans have a food poverty incidence rate of 0, based on the Food Poverty Line (FPL) which "includes a daily intake of 2,100 calories per adult per day."
Angam Day, held on 26 October, celebrates the recovery of the Nauruan population after the two world wars and the Spanish flu, 1920 influenza epidemic. Colonial and contemporary Western influence has largely displaced the indigenous culture. Few older customs have been preserved, but some forms of traditional music, arts and crafts, and fishing are still practised.
Australian rules football is the most popular sport in Nauru; it is considered the country's national team sport. There is an Australian rules football in Nauru, Australian rules football league with eight teams. Nauru has several Nauru national Australian rules football team, national Australian rules teams that consistently rank among the top eight teams in the world.
Other sports popular in Nauru include weightlifting (considered a national pastime), volleyball, netball, recreational fishing, fishing and tennis. Nauru participates in the Commonwealth Games and Nauru at the Olympics, has participated in the Summer Olympic Games in weightlifting and judo.
Nauru national basketball team, Nauru's national basketball team competed at the Basketball at the 1969 South Pacific Games, 1969 Pacific Games, where it defeated Solomon Islands national basketball team, Solomon Islands and Fiji national basketball team, Fiji.
Rugby union in Nauru has a growing following. The Nauru national rugby sevens team made its international debut at the 2015 Pacific Games. Nauru competed in the 2015 Oceania Sevens Championship in New Zealand.
Soccer in Nauru is a minor sport which has long been dormant in due to the popularity of Australian rules and rugby; however, a Nauru national soccer team was in formation as of 2024.
Asylum and Extraction in the Republic of Nauru
Ithaca: Cornell University Press. *Storr, C. (2020). doi:10.1017/9781108682602, ''International Status in the Shadow of Empire: Nauru and the Histories of International Law''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * * *
Government of NauruGovernment of Nauru (archived site)Nauru
''The World Factbook''. Central Intelligence Agency. *
Nauru
from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''
Nauru profile
from the ''BBC News Online'' {{Coord, 0, 31, 41, S, 166, 56, 13, E, type:country, display=title Nauru, 1968 establishments in Nauru Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations Countries in Micronesia Countries in Oceania Countries and territories where English is an official language Former British colonies and protectorates in Oceania Former German colonies Island countries Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations Member states of the United Nations Small Island Developing States States and territories established in 1968
Allied and Associated Powers
The Allies or the Entente (, ) was an international military coalition of countries led by the French Republic
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas region ...
that George V of the United Kingdom
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
George was born during the reign of his pa ...
should be the administering authority under a League of Nations mandate. The Nauru Island Agreement forged in 1919 among the governments of the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand provided for the administration of the island and extraction of the phosphate deposits by an intergovernmental British Phosphate Commission
The British Phosphate Commissioners (BPC) was a board of Australian, British, and New Zealand representatives who managed extraction of phosphate from Christmas Island, Nauru, and Banaba (Ocean Island) from 1920 until 1981.
Nauru was a mandate te ...
(BPC). The terms of the League of Nations
The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
mandate were drawn up in 1920.
The island experienced an influenza
Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...
epidemic and ongoing colonial strife through the early 20th century, with a mortality rate of 18 per cent among native Nauruans. In 1923, the League of Nations gave Australia a trustee mandate over Nauru, with the United Kingdom and New Zealand as co-trustees. On 6 and 7 December 1940, the German auxiliary cruisers '' Komet'' and ''Orion
Orion may refer to:
Common meanings
* Orion (constellation), named after the mythical hunter
* Orion (mythology), a hunter in Greek mythology
Arts and media
Fictional entities Characters and species
* Orion (character), a DC Comics c ...
'' sank five supply ships in the vicinity of Nauru. ''Komet'' then shelled Nauru's phosphate mining areas, oil storage depots, and the shiploading cantilever.
Japanese troops occupied Nauru on 25 August 1942. The Japanese built 2 airfields which were bombed for the first time on 25 March 1943, preventing food supplies from being flown to Nauru. The Japanese deported 1,200 Nauruans to work as labourers in the Chuuk Islands, which was also occupied by Japan. As part of the Allied strategy of island hopping from the Pacific islands towards the main islands of Japan, Nauru was bypassed and left to "wither on the vine". Nauru was finally taken back from the Japanese on 13 September 1945, when commander Hisayaki Soeda surrendered the island to the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...
. The surrender was accepted by Brigadier
Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...
J. R. Stevenson, who represented Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...
Vernon Sturdee
Lieutenant General Sir Vernon Ashton Hobart Sturdee, (16 April 1890 – 25 May 1966) was an Australian Army commander who served two terms as Chief of the General Staff. A regular officer of the Royal Australian Engineers who joined the Mi ...
, the commander of the First Australian Army, aboard the warship HMAS ''Diamantina''. Arrangements were made to repatriate from Chuuk the 745 Nauruans who survived Japanese captivity there. They were returned to Nauru by the BPC ship ''Trienza'' in January 1946.
In 1947, a trusteeship was established by the United Nations, with Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom as trustees. Under those arrangements, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand were a joint administering authority. The Nauru Island Agreement provided for the first administrator to be appointed by Australia for five years, leaving subsequent appointments to be decided by the three governments. However, in practice, administrative power was exercised by Australia alone.
The 1948 Nauru riots
The 1948 Nauru riots occurred when Chinese labourers employed on the phosphate mines refused to leave the island. At the time, Nauru was dominated by Australia as a United Nations trust territory, with New Zealand and the UK as co-trustees.
B ...
occurred when Chinese guano
Guano (Spanish from ) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. Guano is a highly effective fertiliser due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a le ...
mining workers went on strike over pay and conditions. The Australian administration imposed a state of emergency
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...
with Native Police
Australian native police were specialised mounted military units consisting of detachments of Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal troopers under the command of European officers appointed by British colonial governments. The units existed in va ...
and armed volunteers of locals and Australian officials being mobilised. This force, using sub-machine guns
A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an automatic ...
and other firearms, opened fire on the Chinese workers killing two and wounding sixteen. Around 50 of the workers were arrested and two of these were bayoneted to death while in custody. The trooper who bayoneted the prisoners was charged but later acquitted on grounds that the wounds were "accidentally received." The governments of the Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
made official complaints against Australia at the United Nations over this incident.
In 1964, it was proposed to relocate the population of Nauru to Curtis Island off the coast of Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, Australia. By that time, Nauru had been extensively mined for phosphate by companies from Australia, Britain, and New Zealand, damaging the landscape so much that it was thought the island would be uninhabitable by the 1990s. Rehabilitating the island was seen as financially impossible. In 1962, Australian Prime Minister
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the federal executive government. Under the principles of responsibl ...
Robert Menzies
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...
said that the three countries involved in the mining had an obligation to provide a solution for the Nauruan people, and proposed finding a new island for them. In 1963, the Australian Government proposed to acquire all the land on Curtis Island (which was considerably larger than Nauru) and then offer the Nauruans freehold title over the island and that the Nauruans would become Australian citizens
The primary law governing nationality of Australia is the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, which came into force on 1 July 2007 and is applicable in all states and territories of Australia.
All persons born in Australia before 20 August 1986 ...
. The cost of resettling the Nauruans on Curtis Island was estimated to be ( A$ in ), which included housing and infrastructure and the establishment of pastoral
The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...
, agricultural
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...
, and fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...
industries. However, the Nauruan people did not wish to become Australian citizens and wanted to be given sovereignty over Curtis Island to establish themselves as an independent nation, which Australia would not agree to. Nauru rejected the proposal to move to Curtis Island, instead choosing to become an independent nation operating their mines in Nauru.
Nauru became self-governing in January 1966, and following a two-year constitutional convention, it became independent on 31 January 1968 under founding president Hammer DeRoburt
Hammer DeRoburt (25 September 1922 – 15 July 1992) was a Nauruan politician and independence leader. He led negotiations for independence from Australia and the end of the country's status as a United Nations trust territory. He was subse ...
. In 1967, the people of Nauru purchased the assets of the British Phosphate Commissioners, and in June 1970, control passed to the locally owned Nauru Phosphate Corporation
The Republic of Nauru Phosphate Corporation (RONPhos) is a government-owned company controlling phosphate mining in Nauru. The company was previously known as the Nauru Phosphate Corporation (NPC).
Failed investments
In the early years of the ...
(NPC). Income from the mines made Nauruans among the richest people in the world. In 1989, Nauru took legal action against Australia in the International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...
over Australia's administration of the island, in particular, Australia's failure to remedy the environmental damage caused by phosphate mining. ''Certain Phosphate Lands: Nauru v. Australia'' led to an out-of-court settlement to rehabilitate the mined-out areas of Nauru.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, a state of emergency was declared in Nauru on 17 March 2020.
Geography
Nauru is a , oval-shaped island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The island is surrounded by a fringing coral reef, which is exposed at low tide and dotted with pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was main ...
s. The presence of the reef
A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...
has prevented the establishment of a seaport
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...
, although channels
Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to:
Geography
* Channel (geography), a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water.
Australia
* Channel Country, region of outback Australia in Queensland and pa ...
in the reef allow small boats access to the island. A fertile coastal strip wide lies inland from the beach.
Coral cliffs surround Nauru's central plateau. The highest point of the plateau, called the Command Ridge, is above sea level.
The only fertile areas on Nauru are on the narrow coastal belt, where coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...
palms flourish. The land around Buada Lagoon supports banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...
s, pineapple
The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae.
The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...
s, vegetable
Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...
s, pandanus trees, and indigenous hardwood
Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...
s, such as the tamanu tree.
Nauru was one of three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean, along with Banaba (Ocean Island), in Kiribati, and Makatea
Makatea, or Mangaia-te-vai-tamae, is a raised coral atoll in the northwestern part of the Tuamotus, which is a part of the French overseas collectivity of French Polynesia. It is located southwest from Rangiroa to the west of the Palliser Islan ...
, in French Polynesia
French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...
. The phosphate reserves on Nauru are now almost entirely depleted. Phosphate mining in the central plateau has left a barren terrain of jagged limestone pinnacles up to high. Mining has stripped and devastated about 80 per cent of Nauru's land area, leaving it uninhabitable and has also affected the surrounding exclusive economic zone
An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...
; 40% of marine life is estimated to have been killed by silt
Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...
and phosphate runoff.
The island has no rivers, and there is no inflow or outflow from the Buada Lagoon; it is an endorheic basin
An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...
.
Climate
Nauru's climate is hot and very humid year-round because of its proximity to the equator and the ocean. Nauru is hit bymonsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...
rains between November and February. Annual rainfall is highly variable and is influenced by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation
El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a global climate phenomenon that emerges from variation in winds and sea surface temperatures over the tropical Pacific Ocean. Those variations have an irregular pattern but do have some semblance of cyc ...
, with several significant recorded droughts. The temperature on Nauru ranges between during the day and is quite stable at around at night.
Streams and rivers do not exist in Nauru. Water is gathered from roof catchment systems or brought to Nauru as ballast on ships returning for loads of phosphate.
Ecology
Fauna is sparse on the island because of a lack of vegetation and the consequences of phosphate mining. Many indigenous birds have disappeared or become rare owing to the destruction of their habitat. There are about 60 recorded vascular plant
Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes (, ) or collectively tracheophyta (; ), are plants that have lignin, lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified Ti ...
species native to the island, none of which are endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
. Coconut farming, mining, and introduced species have seriously disturbed the native vegetation.
There are no native land mammal
A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...
s, but there are native insect
Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...
s, land crabs
A number of lineages of crabs have evolved to live predominantly on land. Examples of terrestrial crabs are found in the families Gecarcinidae and Gecarcinucidae, as well as in selected genera from other families, such as '' Sesarma'', althou ...
, and bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s, including the endemic Nauru reed warbler
The Nauru reed warbler () (''Acrocephalus rehsei'') is a passerine bird endemism, endemic to the island of Nauru in the Pacific Ocean. It is one of only two native breeding land-birds on Nauru and it is the only passerine found on the island. It ...
. The Polynesian rat
The Polynesian rat, Pacific rat or little rat (''Rattus exulans''), or , is the third most widespread species of rat in the world behind the brown rat and black rat. Contrary to its vernacular name, the Polynesian rat originated in Southeast Asi ...
, cats, dogs, pigs, and chickens have been introduced to Nauru from ships.
Politics
The president of Nauru is David Adeang
David Ranibok Waiau Adeang (born 24 November 1969) is a Nauruan politician, currently serving as President of Nauru. Adeang is the former Speaker of the Parliament of Nauru, and Nauru's Minister of Finance and Justice, as well as the Minist ...
, who heads a 19-member unicameral parliament. The country is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Asian Development Bank
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world.
The bank was establishe ...
. Nauru also participates in the Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
and Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
. Recently, Nauru became a member country of the International Renewable Energy Agency
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organization mandated to facilitate cooperation, advance knowledge, and promote the adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy. It is the first international organis ...
(IRENA). The Republic of Nauru became the 189th member of the International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
in April 2016.
Nauru is a republic with a parliamentary system
A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their Election, democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of t ...
of government. The president is both head of state
A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "
and he head of state
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads
* He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English
* He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana)
* Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...head of government
In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...
and is dependent on parliamentary confidence to remain president. All 19 parliament seats are elected every three years. The parliament elects the president from its members, and the president appoints a cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filin ...
of five to six members. As a result of a referendum in 2021, naturalised citizens and their descendants are barred from becoming parliamentarians.
Nauru lacks any formal structure for political parties, and candidates typically stand for office as independents; fifteen of the 19 members of the current parliament are independents. Four parties that have been active in Nauruan politics are the Nauru Party, the Democratic Party, Nauru First
Nauru First () is the only formal political party in Nauru.
Philosophy and leading members
Its positions tend to be liberal, pro-government transparency, and Christian democratic. Its founding members were Kieren Keke (a medical doctor), D ...
and the Centre Party. However, alliances within the government are often formed based on extended family ties rather than party affiliation.
From 1992 to 1999, Nauru had a local government system known as the Nauru Island Council (NIC). It was a successor to the Nauru Local Government Council, established in 1951. This nine-member council was designed to provide municipal services. The NIC was dissolved in 1999 and all assets and liabilities became vested in the national government. Land tenure
In Common law#History, common law systems, land tenure, from the French verb "" means "to hold", is the legal regime in which land "owned" by an individual is possessed by someone else who is said to "hold" the land, based on an agreement betw ...
on Nauru is unusual: all Nauruans have certain rights to all land on the island, which is owned by individuals and family groups. Government and corporate entities do not own any land, and they must enter into a lease arrangement with landowners to use land. Non-Nauruans cannot own land on the island.
Nauru's Supreme Court
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
, headed by the Chief Justice, is paramount on constitutional issues. Other cases can be appealed to the two-judge Appellate Court. Parliament cannot overturn court decisions. Historically, Appellate Court rulings could be appealed to the High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation.
The High Court was establi ...
, though this happened only rarely and the Australian court's appellate jurisdiction ended entirely on 12 March 2018 after the Government of Nauru unilaterally ended the arrangement. Lower courts consist of the District Court and the Family Court, both of which are headed by a Resident Magistrate, who also is the Registrar of the Supreme Court. There are two other quasi-courts: the Public Service Appeal Board and the Police Appeal Board, both of which are presided over by the Chief Justice.
Foreign relations
Following independence in 1968, Nauru joined the Commonwealth of Nations as a Special Member; it became a full member in 1999. The country was admitted to the Asian Development Bank in 1991 and the United Nations in 1999. Nauru is a member of the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, thePacific Community
The Pacific Community (PC), formerly the South Pacific Commission (SPC), is an international development organisation governed by 27 members, including 22 Pacific island countries and territories around the Pacific Ocean. The organisation's hea ...
, and the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission
The Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) was an inter-governmental regional organisation dedicated to providing services to promote sustainable development in the countries it serves. In 2010, its functions had been transferred to ...
. In February 2021, Nauru announced it would be formally withdrawing from the Pacific Islands Forum
The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is an inter-governmental organisation that aims to enhance cooperation among countries and territories of Oceania, including formation of a trade bloc and regional peacekeeping operations. It was founded in 197 ...
in a joint statement with Marshall Islands, Kiribati, and the Federated States of Micronesia after a dispute regarding Henry Puna
Henry Tuakeu Puna (born 29 July 1949) is a Cook Islands politician. He most recently served as the secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum from May of 2021 to 2024. He was Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from November 2010 to October 2 ...
's election as the Forum's secretary-general.
Nauru has no armed forces, though there is a small police force
The police are a constituted body of people empowered by a state with the aim of enforcing the law and protecting the public order as well as the public itself. This commonly includes ensuring the safety, health, and possessions of citizen ...
under civilian control. Australia is responsible for Nauru's defence under an informal agreement between the two countries. The September 2005 memorandum of understanding between Australia and Nauru provides the latter with financial aid and technical assistance, including a Secretary of Finance to prepare the budget, and advisers on health and education. This aid is in return for Nauru's housing of asylum seekers while their applications for entry into Australia are processed. Nauru uses the Australian dollar as its official currency.
Nauru has used its position as a member of the United Nations to gain financial support from both Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
(officially the Republic of China or ROC) and China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
(officially the People's Republic of China or PRC) by changing its recognition from one to the other under the One-China policy
''One China'' is a phrase describing the relationship between the People's Republic of China (PRC) based on mainland China, and the Republic of China (ROC) based on the Taiwan Area. "One China" asserts that there is only one ''de jure'' C ...
. On 21 July 2002, Nauru signed an agreement to establish diplomatic relations with the PRC, accepting US$
The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
130 million from the PRC for this action (US$ in ). In response, the ROC severed diplomatic relations with Nauru two days later. Nauru later re-established links with the ROC on 14 May 2005, and diplomatic ties with the PRC were officially severed on 31 May 2005. On 15 Jan 2024, Nauru severed ties with the ROC and re-established diplomatic ties with the PRC.
In 2008, Nauru recognised Kosovo as an independent country, and in 2009 Nauru became the fourth country, after Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
, and Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
, to recognise Abkhazia
Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...
and South Ossetia
South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...
, two breakaway autonomous republics of Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
. Russia was reported to be giving Nauru US$50 million in humanitarian aid as a result of this recognition (US$ in ). On 15 July 2008, the Nauruan government announced a port refurbishment programme, financed with US$9 million of development aid received from Russia (US$ in ). The Nauru government claimed this aid is not related to its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
The US Atmospheric Radiation Measurement
The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement User Facility (ARM User Facility) is a multi-laboratory United States Department of Energy scientific user facility used for national and international global climate research efforts.
The ARM User Facility ...
program operates a climate-monitoring facility on the island.
A significant portion of Nauru's income has been in the form of aid from Australia. In 2001, the MV ''Tampa'', a Norwegian ship that had rescued 438 refugees from a stranded boat, was seeking to dock in Australia. In what became known as the ''Tampa'' affair, the ship was refused entry and boarded by Australian troops. The refugees were eventually taken to Nauru to be held in detention facilities which later became part of the Howard government
The Howard government refers to the Government of Australia, federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard between 11 March 1996 and 3 December 2007. It was made up of members of the Liberal Party of Australia, Li ...
's Pacific Solution
The Pacific Solution is the name given to the Australian Government, government of Australia's policy of transporting asylum seekers to detention centres on island nations in the Pacific Ocean, rather than allowing them to land on the Austral ...
. Nauru operated two detention centres known as State House and Topside for these refugees in exchange for Australian aid. By November 2005, only two refugees remained on Nauru from those first sent there in 2001. The Australian government sent further groups of asylum-seekers to Nauru in late 2006 and early 2007. The refugee centre was closed in 2008, but, following the Australian government's re-adoption of the Pacific Solution in August 2012, it has re-opened it. Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
has since described the conditions of the refugees of war living in Nauru as a "horror", with reports of children as young as eight attempting suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death.
Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
and engaging in acts of self-harm. In 2018, the situation gained attention as a "mental health crisis", with an estimated thirty children suffering from traumatic withdrawal syndrome, also known as resignation syndrome. By the middle of 2023, the camp was finally totally emptied for the first time since it opened, with 4183 people having been detained there since it opened in 2012. In 2024 a few dozen refugees were again being held there while their claims are being processed.
Administrative divisions
Nauru is divided into fourteen administrative districts, which are grouped into eight electoral constituencies and are further divided into villages. The most populous district is Denigomodu
Denigomodu is a district in the western part of the island of Nauru. It is the most populous district in Nauru.
It houses the expatriate housing compound "The Location". This makes it Nauru's largest settlement by population. , 16% of the people ...
, with 1,804 residents, of which 1,497 reside in a Republic of Nauru Phosphate Corporation settlement called "Location". The following table shows population by district according to the 2011 census.
Economy
Before a resurgence in the 2010s, the Nauruan economy was strongest in the 1970s, with GDP
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...
peaking in 1981. This trend came from phosphate mining, which accounted for a majority of its economic output. Mining declined starting in the early 1980s. There are few other resources, and most necessities are imported. Small-scale mining is still conducted by RONPhos, formerly known as the Nauru Phosphate Corporation. The government places a percentage of RONPhos's earnings into the Nauru Phosphate Royalties Trust
The Nauru Phosphate Royalties Trust (NPRT) was a sovereign wealth fund developed by the government of the Republic of Nauru in which the government invested money from the state-owned mining company, Nauru Phosphate Corporation. This money was th ...
. The trust manages long-term investments, which were intended to support the citizens after the phosphate reserves were exhausted.
Because of mismanagement, the trust's fixed and current asset
In accounting, a current asset is an asset that can reasonably be expected to be sold, consumed, or exhausted through the normal operations of a business within the current fiscal year, operating cycle, or financial year. In simple terms, current ...
s were reduced considerably and may never fully recover. The failed investments included financing '' Leonardo the Musical'' in 1993. The Mercure Hotel in Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, Australia and Nauru House
Nauru House (also called 80 Collins Street) is a landmark 52-storey building located in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. The building was designed by architectural firm Perrott Lyon Timlock & Kesa and completed in 1 ...
in Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, Australia were sold in 2004 to finance debts and Air Nauru
Nauru Air Corporation, trading as Nauru Airlines (formerly trading as Our Airline and Air Nauru), is the flag carrier of the Republic of Nauru. It operates scheduled international services to other Pacific islands and Australia. Its main base is ...
's only Boeing 737 was repossessed in December 2005. Normal air service resumed after the aircraft was replaced with a Boeing 737-300
The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft.
Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...
airliner in June 2006. In 2005, the corporation sold its remaining real estate in Melbourne, the vacant Savoy Tavern site, for A$7.5 million (US$ in ).
The value of the trust is estimated to have shrunk from A$1.3 billion in 1991 to A$138 million in 2002 (A$ to A$ in dollars). Nauru currently lacks money to perform many of the basic functions of government; for example, the National Bank of Nauru is insolvent. The CIA World Factbook
''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a reference resource produced by the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print ve ...
estimated a GDP per capita
This is a list of countries by nominal GDP per capita. GDP per capita is the total value of a country's finished goods and services (gross domestic product) divided by its total population (per capita).
Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is ...
of US$5,000 in 2005. The Asian Development Bank 2007 economic report on Nauru estimated GDP per capita at US$2,400 to US$2,715.
There are no personal taxes in Nauru. The unemployment rate is estimated to be 23% and the government employs 95% of those who have jobs. The Asian Development Bank notes that, although the administration has a strong public mandate to implement economic reforms, in the absence of an alternative to phosphate mining, the medium-term outlook is for continued dependence on external assistance. Tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
is not a major contributor to the economy.
In the 1990s, Nauru became a tax haven and offered passports
A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...
to foreign nationals for a fee. The inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), also known by its French name, Groupe d'action financière (GAFI), is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering and to m ...
(FATF) identified Nauru as one of 15 "FATF Blacklist, non-cooperative" countries in its fight against money laundering. During the 1990s, it was possible to establish a licensed bank in Nauru for only US$25,000 (US$ in ) with no other requirements. Under pressure from FATF, Nauru introduced anti-avoidance legislation in 2003, after which foreign hot money left the country. In October 2005, after satisfactory results from the legislation and its enforcement, FATF lifted the non-cooperative designation.
From 2001 to 2007, the Nauru detention centre provided a significant source of income for the country. Nauruan authorities reacted with concern to its closure by Australia. In February 2008, Ministry of foreign affairs, Foreign Affairs Minister Kieren Keke, stated that the closure would result in 100 Nauruans losing their jobs, and would affect 10% of the island's population directly or indirectly: "We have got a huge number of families that are suddenly going to be without any income. We are looking at ways we can try and provide some welfare assistance but our capacity to do that is very limited. Literally we have got a major unemployment crisis in front of us." The detention centre was re-opened in August 2012.
In July 2017, the OECD, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, upgraded its rating of Nauru's standards of tax transparency. Previously Nauru had been listed alongside fourteen other countries that had failed to show that they could comply with international tax transparency standards and regulations. The OECD subsequently put Nauru through a fast-tracked compliance process and the country was given a "largely compliant" rating.
The Nauru 2017–2018 budget, delivered by Minister of Finance of Nauru, Minister of Finance David Adeang
David Ranibok Waiau Adeang (born 24 November 1969) is a Nauruan politician, currently serving as President of Nauru. Adeang is the former Speaker of the Parliament of Nauru, and Nauru's Minister of Finance and Justice, as well as the Minist ...
, forecast A$128.7 million in revenues and A$128.6 million in expenditures and projected modest economic growth for the nation over the next two years. In 2018, the Nauru government partnered with the deep sea mining company DeepGreen, now Nauru Ocean Resources Inc (NORI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian The Metals Company. They planned to harvest manganese nodules whose minerals and metals can be used in the development of sustainable energy technology.
In March 2025, Nauru announced a "golden passport" initiative with the aim of raising money to relocate 90% of the island's population to a new community on higher ground. Citizenship will cost a minimum of $105,000 and does not require residency.
Demographics
Nauru had residents as of July . The population was previously larger, but in 2006 the island saw 1,500 people leave during a repatriation of immigrant workers from Kiribati and Tuvalu. The repatriation was motivated by significant layoffs in phosphate mining.
Nauru is one of the most densely populated Westernization, Westernized countries in the South Pacific.
The official languages of Nauru are Nauruan and English language, English. Nauruan is a distinct Micronesian languages, Micronesian language, which is spoken by 96% of ethnic Nauruans at home. English is widely spoken and is the language of government and commerce.
The main Religion in Nauru, religion practised on the island is Christianity: the main denominations are Nauru Congregational Church (35.71%), Catholic Church (32.96%), Assemblies of God (12.98%), and Baptist (1.48%). The Constitution provides for freedom of religion. However, the government has restricted the religious practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Jehovah's Witnesses, most of whom are foreign workers employed by the government-owned Nauru Phosphate Corporation. The Catholics are pastorally served by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarawa and Nauru, with see at Tarawa in Kiribati.
Public services
Education
Literacy on Nauru is 96%. Education is compulsory for children from six to sixteen years old, and two more non-compulsory years are offered (years 11 and 12). The island has three primary schools and two secondary schools. The secondary schools are Nauru Secondary School and Nauru College. There is a campus of the University of the South Pacific on Nauru. Before this campus was built in 1987, students would study either by distance or abroad. Since 2011, the University of New England (Australia), University of New England, Australia has established a presence on the island with around 30 Nauruan teachers studying for an associate degree in education. These students will continue on to the degree to complete their studies. This project is led by Associate Professor Pep Serow and funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The previous community public library was destroyed in a fire. , a new one had not yet been built, and no bookmobile services were available as of that year. Sites with libraries include the University of the South Pacific campus, Nauru Secondary, Kayser College, and Aiwo Primary. The Nauru Community Library is in the new University of the South Pacific Nauru Campus building, which was officially opened in May 2018.Health
Nauru has one of the highest child mortality rates in the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) region at 2.9% in 2020, according to a UNICEF study.United Nations Children’s Fund, Situation Analysis of Children in Nauru, UNICEF, Suva, 2017
Life expectancy in Nauru in 2009 was 60.6 years for males and 68.0 years for females.
By measure of List of countries by body mass index, mean body mass index (BMI), Nauruans are the most overweight people in the world; 97% of men and 93% of women are overweight or Obesity, obese. In 2012, the obesity rate was 71.7%. Obesity in the Pacific, Obesity on the Pacific islands is common.
Nauru has the world's highest level of diabetes mellitus type 2, type 2 diabetes, with more than 40% of the population affected. Other significant dietary-related problems on Nauru include Kidney failure, kidney disease and Cardiovascular disease, heart disease.
Nauru has the world's highest tobacco smoking rate (48.3% in 2022).
Transport
The island is solely served by Nauru International Airport. Passenger service is provided by Nauru Airlines. Flights operate four days a week to Brisbane Airport, Brisbane, Australia, with limited service to other destinations including Nadi International Airport, Nadi (Fiji) and Bonriki International Airport, Bonriki (Kiribati).
The island has about 30 km (18 miles) of road, and it has about 4 km of railway that was built for mining use a century ago. Nauru is accessible by sea via the Nauru International Port. The modernization and expansion project of the former Aiwo Boat Harbor was expected to be completed in 2021 but has been delayed due to technical and logistics issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Effects of mining
Food, farming, and diet
Plants and farming
Historically, Indigenous Nauruans kept household gardens that provided much of the food that they needed through Subsistence agriculture, subsistence farming, with the most common food plants including coconuts, breadfruit, bananas, pandanus, papaya, and guavas. Because of the large immigrant population that would work in the phosphate mines, there were many types of fruits and vegetables grown that were staples in those countries as well. The soil in Nauru was very rich on what citizens call the "Topside", which is the raised phosphate plateau where the phosphate is mined from, and it was extremely fertile and great for growing crops. However, the area where most Nauruans live now, on the coastal ring on the island that hasn't been mined, the soil quality is among the poorest in the world, as it is shallow, alkaline, and has the coarse texture of the coral that surrounds it. In 2011, just 13% of households maintained a garden or were involved in growing crops. Most of the soil that was on Nauru is now gone because of phosphate-mining activities, leaving people to import the soil that they need. Ethnobotanical studies have indicated that the reduction in the types of plants that can be grown due to phosphate mining has significantly impacted the connection that Indigenous Nauruans feel to the land, as plants are a large part of their cultural identity and have many uses in their lives, with each plant having an average of seven uses within Pacific Island cultures.Food
For Nauru residents today, all food must also be imported because of the loss of 90% of arable land due to phosphate mining, leaving people with a diet of mainly processed foods, such as rice and sugar. Though residents are trying to salvage the soil that they can, some researchers speculate that there will be no regeneration of soils even after the mining ceases. The country's dependence on processed and imported foods along with "cultural, historical, and social factors" have greatly affected the health of its citizens. Despite having all food imported, the Household and Income Expenditure Survey (HIES) conducted for the year of 2012–2013 found that Nauruans have a food poverty incidence rate of 0, based on the Food Poverty Line (FPL) which "includes a daily intake of 2,100 calories per adult per day."
Non-food basic needs
While the HIES found that Nauru is doing well in terms of food poverty, 24% of the population and 16.8% of households are below the basic needs (clothing, shelter, education, transport, communication, water, sanitation and health services) poverty line. This is the worst poverty index of all Pacific nations. In 2017, half of Nauruans were living on US$9,000 a year (approx. A$11,700 a year). Water resources are extremely limited, with the island supplying enough for 32 liters of freshwater per person per day despite the World Health Organization, WHO's recommendation of 50 liters per person per day. Much of the groundwater has been contaminated by mining runoff, toilets, and dumping of other commercial and household wastes, causing Nauruans to rely on imported water, the price of which can vary as it is closely tied to fuel prices for its delivery, and rainfall storage. Access to sanitation facilities is restricted with just 66% of residents having access to reliable toilets, and open defecation is still practiced by 3% of the population. Schools are frequently forced to close because they do not have reliable toilets or drinking water for students to use. There is a long-standing truancy problem, and accessibility of education for refugee and asylum-seeking children, as well as for disabled children, remain areas of concern for Nauru's education sector.Culture
Angam Day, held on 26 October, celebrates the recovery of the Nauruan population after the two world wars and the Spanish flu, 1920 influenza epidemic. Colonial and contemporary Western influence has largely displaced the indigenous culture. Few older customs have been preserved, but some forms of traditional music, arts and crafts, and fishing are still practised.
Music
Nauruan folk songs existed as of 1970, while ''Oh Bwio Eben Bwio'' is a noticeable folk song. While the traditional culture rapidly gives way to the contemporary, as elsewhere in Micronesia, music and dance are still some of the most popular art forms. Rhythmic singing and traditional ''reigen'' are performed particularly at celebrations. At least, a historical form of a Nauruan dance called ''fish dance'' in English was recorded in a form of photographs. Known contemporary dances are the frigate bird dance and the dogoropa. The national anthem of Nauru is "Nauru Bwiema" ("Song of Nauru"). Margaret Hendrie wrote the words; Laurence Henry Hicks composed the music.Media
There are no daily news publications on Nauru, although there is one fortnightly publication, ''Mwinen Ko''. There is a state-owned television station, Nauru Television (NTV), which broadcasts programs from New Zealand and Australia, and a state-owned non-commercial radio station, Radio Nauru, which carries programs from Radio Australia and the BBC.Sport
Australian rules football is the most popular sport in Nauru; it is considered the country's national team sport. There is an Australian rules football in Nauru, Australian rules football league with eight teams. Nauru has several Nauru national Australian rules football team, national Australian rules teams that consistently rank among the top eight teams in the world.
Other sports popular in Nauru include weightlifting (considered a national pastime), volleyball, netball, recreational fishing, fishing and tennis. Nauru participates in the Commonwealth Games and Nauru at the Olympics, has participated in the Summer Olympic Games in weightlifting and judo.
Nauru national basketball team, Nauru's national basketball team competed at the Basketball at the 1969 South Pacific Games, 1969 Pacific Games, where it defeated Solomon Islands national basketball team, Solomon Islands and Fiji national basketball team, Fiji.
Rugby union in Nauru has a growing following. The Nauru national rugby sevens team made its international debut at the 2015 Pacific Games. Nauru competed in the 2015 Oceania Sevens Championship in New Zealand.
Soccer in Nauru is a minor sport which has long been dormant in due to the popularity of Australian rules and rugby; however, a Nauru national soccer team was in formation as of 2024.
See also
*Index of Nauru-related articles *Outline of NauruNotes
References
Citations
Sources
* *Further reading
*Morris, J. (2023)Asylum and Extraction in the Republic of Nauru
Ithaca: Cornell University Press. *Storr, C. (2020). doi:10.1017/9781108682602, ''International Status in the Shadow of Empire: Nauru and the Histories of International Law''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * * *
External links
Government of Nauru
''The World Factbook''. Central Intelligence Agency. *
Nauru
from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''
Nauru profile
from the ''BBC News Online'' {{Coord, 0, 31, 41, S, 166, 56, 13, E, type:country, display=title Nauru, 1968 establishments in Nauru Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations Countries in Micronesia Countries in Oceania Countries and territories where English is an official language Former British colonies and protectorates in Oceania Former German colonies Island countries Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations Member states of the United Nations Small Island Developing States States and territories established in 1968