Nauru – from phosphate island to one of the world's smallest republics
Seafarers from Micronesia and Polynesia settled Nauru thousands of years ago. Its people were organised in twelve clans, still recalled by the twelve-pointed star on the national flag. The first European known to have sighted the island was the British whaling captain John Fearn in 1798, who called it Pleasant Island.
In the 19th century contact with whalers and traders brought firearms and alcohol, and a long internal war weakened the population. Germany annexed the island in 1888. Rich phosphate deposits were discovered soon afterwards, and mining began in the early 20th century. After the First World War Nauru became a League of Nations mandate held jointly by Britain, Australia and New Zealand, with Australia in charge of administration. During the Second World War Japan occupied the island and deported many Nauruans to Chuuk, where a large number of them died.
After the war Nauru became a UN trust territory, and on 31 January 1968 it gained independence. For a time phosphate made its people among the wealthiest in the world, but the deposits were largely exhausted, much of the interior was left as a barren landscape, and the national finances collapsed. Since 2001 Nauru has also hosted an Australian offshore processing centre for asylum seekers, which has drawn international criticism.
Today Nauru is shaped by the legacy of phosphate mining, its small and closely connected community and the challenges of climate change.
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