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For other uses, see Nauru (disambiguation).
Republic of Nauru
Ripublik Naoero
Motto: God's Will First
Anthem: Nauru Bwiema
Location of Nauru
CapitalNone1
Largest cityYaren
Official languagesEnglish, Nauruan
GovernmentRepublic
Independence
• Water (%)
Negligible
Population
• July 2005 estimate
13,048 (225th)
GDP (PPP)2001 estimate
• Total
$60 million (225th)
• Per capita
$5,000 (2001 est.) (135th)
HDI (2003)n/a
Error: Invalid HDI value (n/a)
CurrencyAustralian dollar (AUD)
Time zoneUTC+12
Calling code674
ISO 3166 codeNR
Internet TLD.nr
1Yaren is the largest settlement, and often cited as the capital. Nauru is the only country in the world with no official capital.

The Republic of Nauru (pronounced /næˈuː.ɹuː/) is an island in the South Pacific Ocean. Narau is in Micronesia, its nearest neighbour is is Banaba Island in Republic of Kiribati 300 km due east. It is the world's smallest island nation covering just 21 square kilometres (8.1 sq. mi), the smallest independent republic and is the only nation in the world with no official capital.

Nauru was initially inhabited by Micronesian and Polynesian peoples, it was annexed by Germany in the late 19th century and became a mandate territory administered by Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom following World War I. The Japanese occupied the island during World War II, and it entered into trusteeship again followin the war, achieving independence in 1968. Narau is a phosphate rock island and its primary economic activity since 1907 has been the export of phosphate mined from the island. With the exhaustion of many of the phosphate stores, the environment of the country has been severely degraded, and the Trust established to manage the islands wealth serverly reduced in value, the government has resorted to unusual measures to obtain income. In the 1990s, Nauru briefly became a tax haven and since 2001 has accepted aid from the Australian government, for which it houses a detention centre, that holds and processes asylum seekers.

History

Main article: History of Nauru
Nauru annexed in 1888 by Germany

Nauru was first settled by and Micronesian and Polynesian peoples, at least 3000 years ago.[1] There were 12 tribes on Nauru, today the 12 tribes are represented in the twelve-pointed star in the flag of Nauru. The Nauruan people called their island "Naoero", the word "Nauru" was later created from "Naoero" so that English speakers could pronounce the name. Naurans subsisted on coconut, pandanus fruit and fish caught with trained Man-of-war Hawks or ibija fish that they raised in Buada Lagoon.[2]

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 supplies from the island, beachcombers and deserters also began to live on the island around this time. The introduction of firearms and alcoholic toddy destroyed the peaceful coexistence of the tribes living on the island. A 10-year war began in 1878 and resulted in a reduction of the population from 1,400 (1843) to around 900 (1888).

The island was annexed by Germany in 1888 and incorporated into Germany's Marshall Islands Protectorate, around that time the island was ruled by Kings, the the most widely known being King Auweyida. German colonial rulers called the island Nawodo or Onawero. Phosphate was discovered a decade after the arrival of the Germans and the Pacific Phosphate Company started to exploit the reserves in 1907, by agreement with Germany. Following the outbreak of World War I, the island was captured by Australian forces in 1914. After the war the League of Nations gave Britain, Australia, and New Zealand a trustee mandate over the territory. The three governments signed a Nauru Island Agreement in 1919 creating a board known as the British Phosphate Commissioners, who took over the rights to phosphate mining.

During World War II Japan occupied Nauru in August 1942 and deported 1,200 Nauruans to work as laborers in the Caroline Islands, where 463 died. The survivors returned to Nauru in January 1946. In 1947, a trusteeship was approved by the United Nations, and Australia, Britain and New Zealand were trustees of the island again. 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 Nauruans purchased the assets of the British Phosphate Commissioners and in June 1970 control passed to the Nauru Phosphate Corporation. Money gained 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 it's administration of Nauru and Australia's failure to remedy environmental damage caused by phosphate mining.[3] The action led to a sizable out of court settlement for funds to rehabilitate the mined-out areas of Nauru. Diminishing phosphate reserves has led to economic decline in Nauru, which in turn has brought increasing political instability since the mid 1980s. Nauru had seventeen changes of administration between 1989 and 2003.[4] 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 on March 10, 2003 in Washington, DC after heart surgery. Ludwig Scotty was elected President on May 29, 2003, and reelected to serve a full term in October 2004.

In recent times a significant percentage of the countires 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.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Nauru
Nauru parliament

Nauru is a republic and has a parliamentary system of government. The President is both the head of state and head of government. An 18-member unicameral Parliament is elected every three years, the Parliament elects a president from amongst its members, who appoints a Cabinet of five to six people. Nauru does not have a formal structure for political parties and candidates typically stand as independents; the three main parties that have been active in Naruan politics are the Democratic Party, Nauru First and the Nauruan Central Party. 15 of the 18 members of the current parliament are independents, and alliances within the government are often formed on the basis of extended family ties.[4]

Since 1992 local government on the island has been the responsibility of the Nauru Island Council (NIC). The NIC has limited powers and functions as an advisory to the national government on local matters. The mandate of the NIC is to concentrate its efforts on local activities relvant to Nauruans. An elected member of the Nauru Island Council can not simultaneously be a member of parliament. [5] Land tenure in Nauru is unusual as all Naurans have rights to land and all land is owned by individuals or family groups, government and corporate entities do not own lands and must enter into a lease arrangement with the landowners. Foreigners and non-Nauruans cannot own lands.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

Nauru has a complex legal system, with the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of Nauru, paramount on constitutional issues. Other cases can be appealed to the two-judge Appellate Court. Parliament cannot overturn court decisions, but Appellate Court rulings can be appealed to Australia's High Court; in practice, however, this rarely happens. 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. Finally, there also are two quasi-courts: the Public Service Appeal Board and the Police Appeal Board, both of which are presided over by the Chief Justice.

Nauru has no armed forces; under an informal agreement, defence is the responsibility of Australia. There is a small police force under civilian control.

Foreign relations

Following independence in 1968, Nauru joined the Commonwealth as a Special Member, it became a full member in 2000. Nauru was admitted to the Asian Development Bank in 1991 and the United Nations in 1999. It is a member of the Pacific Islands Forum, the South Pacific Regional Environmental Programme, the South Pacific Commission, and the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission.

Nauru and Australia have close diplomatic ties. In addition to informal defence arrangements, the Memorandum of Understanding between the two counties that was signed in September 2005, provides Nauru with financial aid and technical assistance including a Secretary of Finance to write Nauru's budget, heath and education advisor's; in return for Nauru managing asylum seekers while their applications for entry into Australia are processed.[4] Nauru also uses the Australian dollar as it's official currency.

Nauru has used its position as a member of the United Nations to gain financial support from both Taiwan and the People's Republic of China by changing it's position on the political status of Taiwan. During 2002 Nauru denied Taiwan diplomatic recognition and signed an agreement to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. This move followed China's promise to provide more than U.S.$130 million in aid. On June 1, 2005 Nauru severed diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China and re-established links with Taiwan.

Districts

Map of Nauru
Main article: Districts of Nauru

Nauru is divided into 14 administrative districts which are grouped into eight electoral constituencies. The districts are:

Geography

Main article: Geography of Nauru

Nauru is a small oval-shaped island in the western Pacific Ocean, located 42 kilometers (26 mi.) south of the Equator. It is one of three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean, the others are Banaba in Kiribati and Makatea in French Polynesia, although the phosphate reserves of Nauru are nearly depleted. Phosphate mining in the central plateau has left a barren terrain of jagged coral pinnacles, up to 15 meters (49 ft.) high. A century of mining has stripped and devastated four-fifths of the total land area. Mining has also had an impact on the surrounding Exclusive Economic Zone with 40% of marine life considered to have been killed by silt and phospahte run off.[6]

A satellite image of Nauru

The island is surrounded by a coral reef, exposed at low tide and dotted with pinnacles. The reef is bounded seaward by deep water, inside by a sandy beach. The presence of the reef has prevented the establishment of a sea port for the island, however 16 artifical canals have been made in the reef to allow small boats to access the island. A 150-300-meter (492-984 ft.) wide fertile coastal strip lies landward from the beach. Coral cliffs surround the central plateau, which is known on the island as Topside. The highest point of the plateau is 65 meters (213 ft.) above sea level. The only fertile areas are the narrow coastal belt, where coconut palms florish, the land surrounding Buada Lagoon supports bananas, pineapples, and some vegetables are grown as well as pandanus trees, and indigenous hardwoods like the tomano tree. The population of the island is concentrated in this coastal belt and around Buada Lagoon.

There are limited natural fresh water resources on Nauru. Roof storage tanks collect rainwater, but islanders are mostly dependent on a single, aging desalination plant. Nauru's climate is extremely humid year-round because of its proximity to the Equator. The island is affected by monsoonal rains between November and February, but annual rainfall is highly variablle and is influenced by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, there have been several recorded droughts.[1] During the day the temperature ranges between 26-35 °C and at night the temperature is between 25-28 °C. As an island nation Nauru may be vulnerable to climate and sea level change, but to what degree, is difficult to predict; at least 80% of its land area of Nauru is well elevated, however this area uninhabitable until the phosphate mining rehabilitation programme is implemented.[6]

There are only 60 recorded vascular plant species native to the island, none are endemic, coconut farming, mining and introduced species have caused serious distirbance to the native vegetation.[1] There are no land mammals native to the island, however there are some native birds including the endemic Nauru Reed Warbler, insects and some land crabs. The Polynesian Rat cats, dogs, pigs and chickens have been introduced to the island.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Nauru
Phosphate strip mine in Nauru
A ship being loaded with phosphate in Nauru

The economy of Nauru depends almost entirely on the country's declining phosphate deposits, few other resources exist, and most necessities are imported. The islands phosphate deposits are largely depleted; yet mining on a small scale is still being carried out by the NPC. The government of Nauru places a percentage of the NPC's earnings in the Nauru Phosphate Royalties Trust. The Trust manages long-term investments meant to support the citizens of Nauru once the phosphate reserves have been exhausted. However a history of bad investments, financial mismanagement, overspending and corruption have reduced the Trust's fixed and current assets, for example Nauru House in Melbourne was sold in 2004 to finance debts and Air Nauru's last Boeing 747-300 was repossessed in December 2005.[7][8] The value of the Trust is estimated to have shrunk from an A$1,300 million in 1991 to A$138 million in 2002.[9] Nauru currently lacks money to perform many of the basic functions of government, the national Bank of Nauru is insolvent, and GDP per capita has fallen to USD 5,000 per annum.

There are no personal taxes in Nauru and the government employs 95% of those Nauruans who work; unemployment is estimated to be 90%.[10][11] 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.[9] The sale of deep sea fishing rights may generate some revenue. Tourism is unlikely to be a major contributor to the economy as there are few facilities for tourists, the Menen Hotel is the only hotel on the island.

In the 1990s Nauru became a tax haven and offered passports to foreign nationals for a fee. It became a favourite spot for the dirty money of the Russian mafia. A no-questions-asked policy enabled an estimated 70 billion dollars of assets belonging to Russian gangsters to be funneled to Nauru.[10] The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering identified Nauru as one of fifteen non-cooperative countries in its fight against money laundering. Nauru introduced anti-avoidance legislation and foreign hot money left the country. In October 2005 this legislation - and its effective enforcement - led the FATF the lifting of the "non-cooperative" designation.

Demographics

Community of Aiwo, from east
Main article: Demographics of Nauru

The majority of the islands 13,048 residents are Nauruan (58%), other Pacific Islanders (26%), Chinese (8%) and Europeans (8%) comprise the remainder.[11] The official language of Nauru is Nauruan, which is a distinct Pacific island language. English is widely understood, spoken, and used for most government and commercial purposes.

The main religion practiced on the island is Christianity (two-thirds Protestant, one-third Roman Catholic). The Constitution provides for freedom of religion; however, the Government restricts this right in some circumstances, the Government placed some restrictions on the practice of religion by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and members of Jehovah's Witnesses, most of whom are foreign workers employed by the Nauru Phosphate Corporation.[12]

An increased standard of living since independence has had some negative effects on the population of Nauru, the people of Nauru are among the most obese in the world, with 90% of adults overweight.[13] Due to poor diet and obesity Nauru has the world's highest level of type 2 diabetes with more than 40% of the population affected[14] Other significant diet realted problems on Nauru include renal failure and heart disease. Life expectancy on the island has fallen to 58.0 years for males and 65.0 years for females.[15]

Literacy on the island is 97%, education is compulsory for children from six to fifteen years of age (Years 1-10), an additional two non-compulsory years are taught (Years 11 and 12).[16] Tertiary education is not available on the island, so students travel to Australia for university.

Culture

The 1999 Australian rules football grand final, played at Linkbelt Oval
Main article: Culture of Nauru

Nauruans descended from Polynesian and Micronesian seafarers. Grouped in clans or tribes, early Nauruans traced their descent on the female side. They believed in a female deity, Eijebong, and a spirit land, also an island, called Buitani. Two of the 12 original tribal groups became extinct during 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 indigenious population below 1500. The displacement of the indigenous culture by colonial and contemporary, western influences is visible on Nauru. Little of the old customs have been preserved, some forms traditional music and arts and crafts are still practiced, as are some traditional methods of fishing.

Nauru has limited domestic media, there is no daily news publication, however there are several published on a weekly or fortnightly basis including the Bulletin, Central Star News and The Nauru Chronicle. There is one state owned television station, Nauru Television (NTV) which broadcasts programmes from New Zealand and there is one state owned non-commercial radio station, Radio Nauru which carries items from Radio Australia and the BBC.[17]

The national sport of Nauru is Australian rules football, there is an elite national league with 7 teams, all games are played at the islands only stadium - Linkbelt Oval. Other sports popular in Nauru include cricket, golf, sailing and football. Nauru participates in the Commonwealth and Summer Olympic Games, where they have had international success in weightlifting. Marcus Stephen has been the most successful lifter to date, winning several Commonwealth Games medals and was elected to Parliament in 2003.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Nauru Department of Economic Development and Environment. 2003. First National Report To the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) URL Accessed 2006-05-03
  2. ^ McDaniel, C. N. and Gowdy, J. M. 2000. Paradise for Sale. University of California Press ISBN 052022296
  3. ^ Highet, K and Kahale, H. 1993. Certain Phosphate Lands in Nauru. The American Journal of International Law 87:282-288
  4. ^ a b c Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Republic of Nauru Country Brief - November 2005 URL accessed on 2006-05-02.
  5. ^ Ogden, M.R. Republic of Nauru URL Accessed 2006-05-02.
  6. ^ a b Republic of Nauru. 1999. Climate Change Response Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change URL Accessed 2006-05-03
  7. ^ McAloon. C. April 18, 2004. Receivers take over Nauru House. The Age
  8. ^ Air Naru flight Schedule URL Accessed 2006-05-02.
  9. ^ a b Asian Development Bank. 2005. Asian Development Outlook 2005 - Nauru URL Accessed 2006-05-02
  10. ^ a b "Paradise well and truly lost", The Economist, 20 December 2001 URL Accessed 2006-05-02.
  11. ^ a b CIA World Fact Book URL Accessed 2006-05-02
  12. ^ U.S. Department of State. 2003. International Religious Freedom Report 2003 - Nauru URL Accessed 2005-05-02.
  13. ^ Obesity in the Pacific: too big to ignore. 2002. Secretariat of the Pacific Community ISBN 9822039255
  14. ^ King, H. and Rewers M. 1993. Diabetes in adults is now a Third World problem. World Health Organization Ad Hoc Diabetes Reporting Group. Ethnicity & Disease 3:S67-74.
  15. ^ WHO The world health report 2005. Nauru URL Accessed 2006-05-02
  16. ^ Waqa, B. 1999. UNESCO Education for all Assessment Country report 1999 Country: Nauru URL Accessed 2006-05-02.
  17. ^ BBC News. Country Profile: Nauru. URL Accessed 2006-05-02.

This article incorporates public domain text from the websites of the United States Department of State & CIA World Factbook (2004).

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