Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, 300 kilometres (186 mi) to the east. With 9,378 residents in a 21 square kilometres (8.1 sq mi) area, Nauru is the smallest nation in the South Pacific and 2nd smallest nation by population on the planet, behind only Vatican City.
Settled by Micronesian and Polynesian people, Nauru was annexed and claimed as a colony by the German Empire in the late 19th century. After World War I, Nauru became a League of Nations mandate administered by Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. During World War II, Nauru was occupied by Japanese troops, who were bypassed by the Allied advance across the Pacific. After the war ended, the country entered into trusteeship again. Nauru gained its independence in 1968.
Nauru is a phosphate rock island with rich deposits near the surface, which allow easy strip mining operations. It has some phosphate resources which, as of 2011, are not economically viable for extraction. Nauru boasted the highest per-capita income enjoyed by any sovereign state in the world during the late 1960s and early 1970s. When the phosphate reserves were exhausted, and the environment had been seriously harmed by mining, the trust that had been established to manage the island's wealth diminished in value. To earn income, Nauru briefly became a tax haven and illegal money laundering centre. From 2001 to 2008, it accepted aid from the Australian Governmentin exchange for hosting the Nauru detention centre.
The president of Nauru is Baron Waqa, who heads a 19-member unicameral parliament. The country is a member of the United Nations, theCommonwealth of Nations, the Asian Development Bank and the Pacific Islands Forum. Nauru also participates in the Commonwealth andOlympic Games. Recently Nauru became a member country of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
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| Capital | Yaren (de facto) [a] | |
| Official languages | ||
|---|---|---|
| Demonym | Nauruan | |
| Government | Parliamentary republic | |
| - | President | Baron Waqa |
| - | Speaker of the Parliament | Ludwig Scotty |
| Legislature | Parliament | |
| Independence | ||
| - | from UN trusteeship, (from the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand) | 31 January 1968 |
| Area | ||
| - | Total | 21 km2 (239th) 8.1 sq mi |
| - | Water (%) | 0.57 |
| Population | ||
| - | July 2011 estimate | 9,378[1] (216th) |
| - | December 2006 census | 9,275 |
| - | Density | 447/km2 (23rd) 1,158/sq mi |
| GDP (PPP) | 2006 estimate | |
| - | Total | $36.9 million[2](192nd) |
| - | Per capita | $2,500 (2006 est.) [2] $5,000 (2005 est.) [1](135th–141st). |
