Nauru: The world’s smallest independent republic
NAURU (pronounced NAH-oo-roo) is an oval-shaped island in the Pacific, just south of the equator, about 2,500 miles (4,023 km) south-west of Honolulu. Phosphate mining has virtually destroyed the tiny nation’s ecology, turning its tropical vegetation into a barren, rocky wasteland.
NAURU (pronounced NAH-oo-roo) is an oval-shaped island in the Pacific, just south of the equator, about 2,500 miles (4,023 km) south-west of Honolulu. Phosphate mining has virtually destroyed the tiny nation’s ecology, turning its tropical vegetation into a barren, rocky wasteland.
In 1798, a British navigator became the first European to visit the island. Germany annexed it in 1888 and by the turn of the century, phosphate, a lucrative fertiliser, began to be mined. The island was placed under joint Australian, New Zealand and British mandate after World War I.
The Japanese occupied the island during World War II and forced 1,200 Nauruans – roughly two-thirds of the population – to relocate. In 1947, Nauru became a UN trusteeship administered by Australia.
By 1967, the phosphate mining industry was under the control of the islanders and on January 31, 1968, Nauru, named Pleasant Island by its first European visitors, became the world’s smallest independent republic. Currently, her population is 13,000.
For a period of time, Nauru’s phosphate made the tiny country’s per capita income the highest in the world, after Saudi Arabia.
However, declining phosphate prices, the high cost of maintaining an international airline and the government’s financial mismanagement combined to make the economy collapse in the late 1990s.
While the mining of 1,000 years’ worth of fossilised bird droppings has been lucrative, Nauru relies on imports for almost everything – from food and water to fuel.
Moreover, recent financial crises have precipitated a slide into bankruptcy and a dependence on aid. The country had to sell off its assets in Australia to pay off a multi-million dollar debt to a US corporation.
Nauru’s government has tried to develop alternative industries, including tourism and offshore banking. A world body set up to fight money-laundering, removed Nauru from its list of uncooperative states in late 2005.
In 2001, Nauru signed an agreement with Australia to accommodate asylum-seekers on the island, in return for millions of dollars in aid. Australia has sent financial experts to Nauru to help it overcome its problems.
The country has seen many governments come and go. President Ludwig Scotty, first elected to parliament in 1983, was re-elected unopposed by MPs in October 2004. By September the same year, he had sacked parliament after it failed to meet a deadline to pass a reform budget. The move precipitated a general election.
Hopes were high that the reformist government’s resounding win would give Nauru its most stable administration in years.
Bernard Dowiyogo, elected in 2003 as president for the seventh time (non-sequentially), died in March 2003. Scotty was re-elected by MPs in June 2004, less than a year after being ousted in a no-confidence vote in August 2003. His predecessor, Rene Harris, lost a confidence vote after his finance minister supported an opposition motion.
Whereas Nauru joined the Commonwealth in 1968, she was declared a Special Member on January 9, 2006.
Compiled by Elizabeth Agiro
In 1798, a British navigator became the first European to visit the island. Germany annexed it in 1888 and by the turn of the century, phosphate, a lucrative fertiliser, began to be mined. The island was placed under joint Australian, New Zealand and British mandate after World War I.
The Japanese occupied the island during World War II and forced 1,200 Nauruans – roughly two-thirds of the population – to relocate. In 1947, Nauru became a UN trusteeship administered by Australia.
By 1967, the phosphate mining industry was under the control of the islanders and on January 31, 1968, Nauru, named Pleasant Island by its first European visitors, became the world’s smallest independent republic. Currently, her population is 13,000.
For a period of time, Nauru’s phosphate made the tiny country’s per capita income the highest in the world, after Saudi Arabia.
However, declining phosphate prices, the high cost of maintaining an international airline and the government’s financial mismanagement combined to make the economy collapse in the late 1990s.
While the mining of 1,000 years’ worth of fossilised bird droppings has been lucrative, Nauru relies on imports for almost everything – from food and water to fuel.
Moreover, recent financial crises have precipitated a slide into bankruptcy and a dependence on aid. The country had to sell off its assets in Australia to pay off a multi-million dollar debt to a US corporation.
Nauru’s government has tried to develop alternative industries, including tourism and offshore banking. A world body set up to fight money-laundering, removed Nauru from its list of uncooperative states in late 2005.
In 2001, Nauru signed an agreement with Australia to accommodate asylum-seekers on the island, in return for millions of dollars in aid. Australia has sent financial experts to Nauru to help it overcome its problems.
The country has seen many governments come and go. President Ludwig Scotty, first elected to parliament in 1983, was re-elected unopposed by MPs in October 2004. By September the same year, he had sacked parliament after it failed to meet a deadline to pass a reform budget. The move precipitated a general election.
Hopes were high that the reformist government’s resounding win would give Nauru its most stable administration in years.
Bernard Dowiyogo, elected in 2003 as president for the seventh time (non-sequentially), died in March 2003. Scotty was re-elected by MPs in June 2004, less than a year after being ousted in a no-confidence vote in August 2003. His predecessor, Rene Harris, lost a confidence vote after his finance minister supported an opposition motion.
Whereas Nauru joined the Commonwealth in 1968, she was declared a Special Member on January 9, 2006.
Compiled by Elizabeth Agiro