Introduction

Nauru

Background:

The exact origins of the Nauruans are unclear, since their language does not resemble any other in the Pacific. The island was annexed by Germany in 1888 and its phosphate deposits began to be mined early in the 20th century by a German-British consortium. Nauru was occupied by Australian forces in World War I and subsequently became a League of Nations mandate. After the Second World War - and a brutal occupation by Japan - Nauru became a UN trust territory. It achieved its independence in 1968 and joined the UN in 1999 as the world's smallest independent republic.

Geography

Nauru

Location:	Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, south of the Marshall Islands
Geographic coordinates:	0 32 S, 166 55 E
Map references:	Oceania
Area:	total: 21 sq km land: 21 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative:	about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries:	0 km
Coastline:	30 km
Maritime claims:	territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate:	tropical with a monsoonal pattern; rainy season (November to February)
Terrain:	sandy beach rises to fertile ring around raised coral reefs with phosphate plateau in center
Elevation extremes:	lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location along plateau rim 61 m
Natural resources:	phosphates, fish
Land use:	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005)
Irrigated land:	NA
Natural hazards:	periodic droughts
Environment - current issues:	limited natural fresh water resources, roof storage tanks collect rainwater, but mostly dependent on a single, aging desalination plant; intensive phosphate mining during the past 90 years - mainly by a UK, Australia, and NZ consortium - has left the central 90% of Nauru a wasteland and threatens limited remaining land resources
Environment - international agreements:	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:	Nauru is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean - the others are Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and Makatea in French Polynesia; only 53 km south of Equator

People

Nauru

Population:	13,528 (July 2007 est.)
Age structure:	0-14 years: 36.4% (male 2,508/female 2,410) 15-64 years: 61.6% (male 4,111/female 4,224) 65 years and over: 2% (male 144/female 131) (2007 est.)
Median age:	total: 21 years male: 20.4 years female: 21.5 years (2007 est.)
Population growth rate:	1.781% (2007 est.)
Birth rate:	24.47 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate:	6.65 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Net migration rate:	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Sex ratio:	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.041 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.973 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.099 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate:	total: 9.6 deaths/1,000 live births male: 12.07 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:	total population: 63.44 years male: 59.85 years female: 67.21 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate:	3.02 children born/woman (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:	NA
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:	NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths:	NA
Nationality:	noun: Nauruan(s) adjective: Nauruan
Ethnic groups:	Nauruan 58%, other Pacific Islander 26%, Chinese 8%, European 8%
Religions:	Christian (two-thirds Protestant, one-third Roman Catholic)
Languages:	Nauruan (official; a distinct Pacific Island language), English widely understood, spoken, and used for most government and commercial purposes
Literacy:	definition: NA total population: NA male: NA female: NA

Government

Nauru

Country name:	conventional long form: Republic of Nauru conventional short form: Nauru local long form: Republic of Nauru local short form: Nauru former: Pleasant Island
Government type:	republic
Capital:	no official capital; government offices in Yaren District time difference: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:	14 districts; Aiwo, Anabar, Anetan, Anibare, Baiti, Boe, Buada, Denigomodu, Ewa, Ijuw, Meneng, Nibok, Uaboe, Yaren
Independence:	31 January 1968 (from the Australia-, NZ-, and UK-administered UN trusteeship)
National holiday:	Independence Day, 31 January (1968)
Constitution:	29 January 1968; amended 17 May 1968 (Constitution Day)
Legal system:	acts of the Nauru Parliament and British common law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
Suffrage:	20 years of age; universal and compulsory
Executive branch:	chief of state: President Marcus STEPHEN (since 19 December 2007); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Marcus STEPHEN (since 19 December 2007); note - President Ludwig SCOTTY defeated in a no confidence vote in parliament on 19 December 2007 cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from among the members of Parliament elections: president elected by Parliament for a three-year term; election last held 19 December 2007 (next to be held in 2010) election results: NA
Legislative branch:	unicameral Parliament (18 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms) elections: last held 25 August 2007 (next to be held in 2010) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - independents 18; note - 15 of 18 incumbents reelected
Judicial branch:	Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders:	Democratic Party [Kennan ADEANG]; Nauru Party (informal); Nauru First (Naoero Amo) Party; note - loose multiparty system
Political pressure groups and leaders:	NA
International organization participation:	ACP, ADB, C, FAO, ICAO, ICCt, Interpol, IOC, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO
Diplomatic representation in the US:	chief of mission: Ambassador Vinci Niel CLODUMAR chancery: 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400 D, New York, NY 10017 telephone: [1] (212) 937-0074 FAX: [1] (212) 937-0079 consulate(s): Agana (Guam)
Diplomatic representation from the US:	the US does not have an embassy in Nauru; the US Ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Nauru
Flag description:	blue with a narrow, horizontal, yellow stripe across the center and a large white 12-pointed star below the stripe on the hoist side; the star indicates the country's location in relation to the Equator (the yellow stripe) and the 12 points symbolize the 12 original tribes of Nauru

Economy

Nauru

Economy - overview:	Revenues of this tiny island have traditionally come from exports of phosphates, now significantly depleted. An Australian company in 2005 entered into an agreement intended to exploit remaining supplies. Few other resources exist with most necessities being imported, mainly from Australia, its former occupier and later major source of support. The rehabilitation of mined land and the replacement of income from phosphates are serious long-term problems. In anticipation of the exhaustion of Nauru's phosphate deposits, substantial amounts of phosphate income were invested in trust funds to help cushion the transition and provide for Nauru's economic future. As a result of heavy spending from the trust funds, the government faces virtual bankruptcy. To cut costs the government has frozen wages and reduced overstaffed public service departments. In 2005, the deterioration in housing, hospitals, and other capital plant continued, and the cost to Australia of keeping the government and economy afloat continued to climb. Few comprehensive statistics on the Nauru economy exist, with estimates of Nauru's GDP varying widely.
GDP (purchasing power parity):	$60 million (2005 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):	$NA
GDP - real growth rate:	NA%
GDP - per capita (PPP):	$5,000 (2005 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:	agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA%
Labor force - by occupation:	note: employed in mining phosphates, public administration, education, and transportation (1992)
Unemployment rate:	90% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line:	NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):	-3.6% (1993)
Budget:	revenues: $13.5 million expenditures: $13.5 million (2005)
Agriculture - products:	coconuts
Industries:	phosphate mining, offshore banking, coconut products
Industrial production growth rate:	NA%
Electricity - production:	30 million kWh (2005)
Electricity - production by source:	fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - consumption:	27.9 million kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports:	0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports:	0 kWh (2005)
Oil - production:	0 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption:	1,050 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - exports:	0 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - imports:	1,023 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - proved reserves:	0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
Natural gas - production:	0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:	0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - exports:	0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - imports:	0 cu m (2005)
Natural gas - proved reserves:	0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
Exports:	$64,000 f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Exports - commodities:	phosphates
Exports - partners:	South Africa 63.7%, South Korea 7.6%, Canada 6.6% (2006)
Imports:	$20 million c.i.f. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities:	food, fuel, manufactures, building materials, machinery
Imports - partners:	South Korea 43.8%, Australia 36.2%, US 5.9%, Germany 4.3% (2006)
Economic aid - recipient:	$20 million mostly from Australia (2005)
Debt - external:	$33.3 million (2002)
Currency (code):	Australian dollar (AUD)
Currency code:	AUD
Exchange rates:	Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.2137 (2007), 1.3285 (2006), 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003)
Fiscal year:	1 July - 30 June

Communications

Nauru

Telephones - main lines in use:	1,900 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular:	1,500 (2002)
Telephone system:	general assessment: adequate local and international radiotelephone communication provided via Australian facilities domestic: NA international: country code - 674; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations:	AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios:	7,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations:	1 (1997)
Televisions:	500 (1997)
Internet country code:	.nr
Internet hosts:	53 (2007)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):	1 (2000)
Internet users:	300 (2002)

Transportation

Nauru

Airports:	1 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:	total: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007)
Roadways:	total: 30 km paved: 24 km unpaved: 6 km (1999 est.)
Ports and terminals:	Nauru

Military

Nauru

Military branches:	no regular military forces; Nauru Police Force (2008)
Manpower available for military service:	males age 18-49: 2,874 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:	NA
Military - note:	Nauru maintains no defense forces; under an informal agreement, defense is the responsibility of Australia

Transnational Issues

Nauru

Disputes - international:

none

History of Nauru

Nauru was first settled by Micronesian and Polynesian peoples at least 3,000 years ago. There were traditionally 12 clans or tribes on Nauru, which are represented in the 12-pointed star in the nation's flag. The Nauruan people called their island "Naoero"; the word "Nauru" was later created from "Naoero" so that English speakers could easily pronounce the name. Nauruans traced their descent on the female side. Naurans subsisted on coconut and pandanus fruit, and caught juvenile ibija fish, acclimated them to fresh water conditions and raised them in Buada Lagoon, providing an additional reliable source of food. Traditionally, only men were permitted to fish on the reef, and did so from canoes or by using trained Man-of-war Hawks.

American Captain John Fearn, a whale hunter, became the first Westerner to visit the island in 1798, and named it Pleasant Island. From around the 1830s, Nauruans had contact with Europeans from whaling ships and traders who replenished their supplies at the island. Around this time, beachcombers and deserters began to live on the island. The islanders traded food for alcoholic toddy and firearms; the firearms were used during the 10-year war which began in 1878 and resulted in a reduction of the population to 900 persons. The island was annexed by Germany in 1888 and incorporated into Germany's Marshall Islands Protectorate; they called the island Nawodo or Onawero. The arrival of the Germans ended the war; social changes brought about by the war established Kings as rulers of the island, the most widely known being King Auweyida. Christian missionaries from the Gilbert Islands also arrived at the island in 1888.

Phosphate was discovered on the island in 1900 by prospector Albert Ellis and the Pacific Phosphate Company started to exploit the reserves in 1906 by agreement with Germany; they exported their first shipment in 1907. Following the outbreak of World War I, the island was captured by Australian forces in 1914. After the war, the League of Nations gave Australia, New Zealand and the UK a trustee mandate over the territory. The three governments signed a Nauru Island Agreement in 1919, creating a board known as the British Phosphate Commission (BPC), which took over the rights to phosphate mining.

During World War II Nauru was occupied by Japan from August 1942. The Japanese-built airfield on the island was bombed in March 1943, preventing food supplies from reaching the island. To prevent starvation, the Japanese deported 1,200 Nauruans to work as labourers in the Chuuk islands, where 463 died. The island was liberated on September 13, 1945 when the Australian warship HMAS Diamantina approached the island and Japanese forces surrendered. Arrangements were made by the BPC to repatriate Nauruans from Chuuk, and they were returned to Nauru by the BPC ship Trienza in January 1946. In 1947, a trusteeship was approved by the United Nations, and Australia, NZ and the UK again became trustees of the island. Nauru became self-governing in January 1966, and following a two-year constitutional convention, became independent in 1968, led by founding president Hammer DeRoburt. 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. Income from the exploitation of phosphate gave Nauruans one of the highest living standards in the Pacific.

In 1989 the country took legal action against Australia in the International Court of Justice over Australia's actions during its administration of Nauru, in particular, Australia's failure to remedy the environmental damage caused by phosphate mining. The action led to a sizeable out-of-court settlement to rehabilitate the mined-out areas of Nauru. Diminishing phosphate reserves has led to economic decline in Nauru, which has brought increasing political instability since the mid-1980s. Nauru had 17 changes of administration between 1989 and 2003. Between 1999 and 2003, a series of no-confidence votes and elections resulted in two people, René Harris and Bernard Dowiyogo, leading the country for alternating periods. Dowiyogo died in office in March 2003 and Ludwig Scotty was elected President. Scotty was re-elected to serve a full term in October 2004.

In recent times, a significant proportion of the country's income has come in the form of aid from Australia. In 2001, the MV Tampa, a ship which had rescued 460 refugees (from various countries including Afghanistan) from a stranded 20-metre (65 ft) boat and was seeking to dock in Australia, was diverted to Nauru as part of the Pacific Solution. Nauru continues to operate the Nauru detention centre in exchange for Australian aid. However, as of November 2005, Australian media reported that only two asylum seekers remained on Nauru.

Culture of Nauru

Nauruans descended from Polynesian and Micronesian seafarers who believed in a female deity, Eijebong, and a spirit land, an island called Buitani. Two of the 12 original tribal groups became extinct in the 20th century. Angam Day, held on October 26 celebrates the recovery of the Nauran population after the two world wars, both of which reduced the indigenous population to fewer than 1500. The displacement of the indigenous culture by colonial and contemporary, western influences is palpable. Little of the old customs have been preserved, although some forms of traditional music and arts and crafts, and some traditional methods of fishing are still practised.

There is no daily news publication, although there are several weekly/fortnightly publications, including the Bulletin, the Central Star News and The Nauru Chronicle. There is a state-owned television station, Nauru Television (NTV) which broadcasts programs from New Zealand, and there is a state-owned non-commercial radio station, Radio Nauru, which carries items from Radio Australia and the BBC.

Australian rules football is the most popular sport in Nauru; there is an elite national league with seven teams. All games are played at the island's only stadium, Linkbelt Oval. Other sports popular in Nauru include softball, cricket, golf, sailing and soccer. Nauru participates in the Commonwealth and Summer Olympic Games, where it has been successful in weightlifting—Marcus Stephen has been a prominent medallist; he was elected to parliament in 2003.

A traditional activity is catching noddy birds when they return from foraging at sea. At sunset, men stand on the beach ready to throw their lasso at the incoming birds. The Nauruan lasso is supple rope with a weight at the end. When a bird approaches, the lasso is thrown up, hits and or drapes itself over the bird, and then falls to the ground. The captured noddies are cooked and eaten.

Last update on 13 March 2008