36 Facts About Nauru

Nauru gained its independence in 1968, and became a member of the Pacific Community in 1969.

Nauru is a phosphate-rock island with rich deposits near the surface, which allowed easy strip mining operations for over a century, though at the cost of seriously harming the island's environment.

Nauru was first settled by Micronesians at least 3, 000 years ago, and there is evidence of possible Polynesian influence.

In 1798, the British sea captain John Fearn, on his trading ship Hunter, became the first Westerner to report sighting Nauru, calling it "Pleasant Island", because of its attractive appearance.

Nauru was finally liberated on 13 September 1945, when commander Hisayaki Soeda surrendered the island to the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Navy.

Related searches

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.

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.

In 1989, Nauru took legal action against Australia in the International Court of Justice over Australia's administration of the island, in particular, Australia's failure to remedy the environmental damage caused by phosphate mining.

Only fertile areas on Nauru are on the narrow coastal belt, where coconut palms flourish.

Nauru was one of three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean, along with Banaba, in Kiribati, and Makatea, in French Polynesia.

Nauru's climate is hot and very humid year-round because of its proximity to the equator and the ocean.

President of Nauru is Russ Kun, who heads a 19-member unicameral parliament.

Recently Nauru became a member country of the International Renewable Energy Agency.

The Republic of Nauru became the 189th member of the International Monetary Fund in April 2016.

Nauru is a republic with a parliamentary system of government.

From 1992 to 1999, Nauru had a local government system known as the Nauru Island Council.

Nauru is a member of the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, the Pacific Community, and the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission.

In February 2021, Nauru announced it would be formally withdrawing from the Pacific Islands Forum in a joint statement with Marshall Islands, Kiribati, and the Federated States of Micronesia after a dispute regarding Henry Puna's election as the Forum's secretary-general.

Nauru has no armed forces, though there is a small police force under civilian control.

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.

Nauru has used its position as a member of the United Nations to gain financial support from both Taiwan and mainland China (officially the People's Republic of China or PRC) by changing its recognition from one to the other under the One-China policy.

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.

In 2008, Nauru recognised Kosovo as an independent country, and in 2009 Nauru became the fourth country, after Russia, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, to recognise Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia.

The Nauru government claimed this aid is not related to its recognising Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Related searches

The refugees were eventually loaded onto Royal Australian Navy vessel HMAS Manoora and taken to Nauru to be held in detention facilities which later became part of the Howard government's Pacific Solution.

Nauru operated two detention centres known as State House and Topside for these refugees in exchange for Australian aid.

Nauru is divided into fourteen administrative districts, which are grouped into eight electoral constituencies and are further divided into villages.

Nauru currently lacks money to perform many of the basic functions of government; for example, the National Bank of Nauru is insolvent.

Under pressure from FATF, Nauru introduced anti-avoidance legislation in 2003, after which foreign hot money left the country.

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.

In 2018 the Nauru government partnered with the deep sea mining company DeepGreen, planning to harvest manganese nodules whose minerals and metals can be used in the development of sustainable energy technology.

Nauru is one of the most densely populated Westernized countries in the South Pacific.

Nauru participates in the Commonwealth Games and has participated in the Summer Olympic Games in weightlifting and judo.

Nauru competed in the 2015 Oceania Sevens Championship in New Zealand.

Nauru has the world's highest level of type 2 diabetes, with more than 40 per cent of the population affected.