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Nauru is pronounced Naoero.
Nauru is one of the many little, inhabitated atolls in Micronesia,
in the Pacific. (Look at the map.) Nauru is the smallest self-governing republic in the world. Nauru has a own government with a president.
Nauru lies 42 kilometer south of the equator. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba. |
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Landwards the reef passes into a sandy beach after which the soil gradual rises, and passes into a fertile strip of land,
100 to 250 meters wide. Here the Nauruans live. Inside this strip is a central plateau.
The highest point of the plateau is 213 feet above sealevel.
This plateau was rich of phosphate.
The plateau covers four/ fifth part of the island.
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There is a population of 10000 inhabitants in Nauru. 6800 of them are original Nauruans. The Nauruan People are of mixed Polynesian, Micronesian and Melanesian origin, most closely related to the Polynesians. The rest of the population are other Pacific Islanders, with a small numbers of Chinese, Asian and Europeans. The first inhabitants at Nauru were divided into twelve clans. You still can tell by looking at the flag, on it there is a twelve-pointed star. Every point symbolizes one of the twelve origin clans. The yellow-gold stripe symbolizes the equator and the blue of course symbolizes the Pacific.
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At Nauru Nauran and English is spoken, but only English is written. The unit of currency is the Australian dollar.
| National Anthem of NAURU | |
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Nauru bwiema, ngabena ma auwe. Ma dedaro bwe dogum, mo otata bet egom. Atsin ngago bwien okor, ama bagadugu Epoa ngabuna ri nan orre bet imur. Ama memag ma nan epodan eredu won engiden, Miyan aema ngeiyin ouge, Nauru eko dogin! |
(translation)
Nauru our homeland, the land we dearly love, |
The climate is tropical. Temperatures range from 24 to 34 degrees. The average annual rainfall is 2,060 mm.
At the fertile areas grow coconut palms, pandanus trees, tomano trees, fig-trees, almond trees, mango trees, banana trees and pineapple trees.
Nauru has a bleak future in store. Nauru is robbed from it's treasures: the phosphate sources. The sources were gifted by thousands birds which established over a milion years at Nauru. The sources have once made the island very rich.
The population of Nauru had the highest income per inhabitant of the whole Pacific. That makes Nauru one of the most prosperous countries in the world.
Since 1907 there is phosphate mining. In 1994 680.000 tons of phosphate has been exported!
But at the end of this century the mines will be exhausted.
The source has grown millions of years. It growed 63 meters above sealevel together with the coral. Now that the people have digged the phosphate out of the coral, everywhere appear bizarre pinnacles of coral poking up from vast pits.
Now that the phosphate is running out, the Nauruan are facing a dreary future. The economy is based on the phosphate mining. Almost everybody at Nauru is working in this industrial.
Nauru is a neglected island. There have been made plans to evacuate the whole population to another island. But most of the inhabitants decided to stay at Nauru.
There are plans to establisch a policy fixed at the restoration of the tropical flowers and plants. They were mainly lost by the phospfate mining.
The policy is also fixed at finding alternative sources of incomes. Men is thinkinig about aviation and shipping and also tourism. But before this is possible Nauru has to face a lot of changes on the island.
Many plants, trees and flowers are gone. A little part of the island stille is fertile. Also many animals have become rare. Many birds are gone, for example the frigate. There were many terns also. The people want them to turn back to the island. To save the island men have to remove the pinnacles of coral everywhere. Men wants to prepare the island for new trees, plants and animals. Calculated is that it is going to take twenty years to restorate the island.
Nauru was first inhabited by seafaring Polynesian and Melanesian explorers.
The first European who set foopt on Nauru was John Fearn in 1798. He was British captain of the 'Hunter', a whaling ship.
He sailed from New Zealand to the Chinese Seas. He came along Nauru and described the island as a attractive. Everywhere were small houses which belonged to the twelve clans of the island. He called the island ‘Pleasant Island’.
Nauru had little contact with Europeans until whaling ships and other traders began to visit in 1830.
The island was serving as base for the American whalers.
The island was left alone for a while. In the nineteenth century the first Europeans came to Nauru. They brought firearms and alcohol. This introduction destroyed the social ballance of the twelve clans. It led to a ten-year internal war, which reduced the population from 1400 to 900.
In 1888 the island was allocated to Germany.
It was part of the 1886 Anglo-German Convention.
The British discovered the phosphate sources on the island.
By permission of Germany the Pacific Phosphate Company could start with the exploitation of phosphate in 1906.
In 1914 Australian forces took over from Germany. Britain held control in Nauru till 1920.
The same year the League of Nations gave Britain, Australia and New Zealand a Trustee Mandate over the territory.
The three governments established the British Phosphate Commissioners (BCP), who took over the rights to phosphate minig.
In 1942 the Japanese occupated Nauru. They deported 1200 Nauruans to Truk to work as labourers. Many of them died as a result of starvation and bombing. The survivirs were returned to Nauru in 1946.
Now the island was a Trust Territory administrated by Australia.
This remained until 1968.
Nauru got back it's indipendence at January 31, 1968.
In 1970 Nauru also got back it's rights about the phosphate mining from Britain.
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A short summary: Native period: before1888 German period: 1888- 1914 Australian period: 1914-1942 Japanese period: 1942- 1945 Australian period: 1945- 1968 (from 1946 a Trust Territory) The Republic of Nauru: 1968- ? |
 Sunset in Nauru,, in the water the bizarre pinnacles of coral |