Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Micronesia, part of the Oceania region in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba of Kiribati about 300 km (190 mi) to the east.
History of Nauru, is about Nauru, an island country in the Pacific Ocean. Human activity is thought to have begun roughly 3,000 years ago when clans settled the island. A people and culture developed on the island, the Nauru which had 12 tribes. At the end of the 1700s, a British ship came, and this was the first known contact with the outside world. The British ship called it "pleasant island" and it was a friendly greeting; the British sailed on. Thirty years later, in 1830, an escaped Irish convict took over the island and was finally evicted in 1841. There were scattered interactions with passing vessels and trade. In the mid-to-late 19th century, a devastating civil war started, which took the lives of many Nauru. This war was ended when Germany annexed the island in 1888, and negotiations ended the fighting. In the 1900s, phosphate mining started, and the Germans built some modern facilities on the island. German control ended at the end of World War I, and it was passed to Australia as protectorate. This continued until WW2, when the Empire of Japan invaded the island. Although it was occupied for a few years, many Nauru died at this time, and much of the population was deported from the island and/or used for slave labor. With the surrender of Japan, the Nauru were returned to the island, and it was put under Australian administration again, under the condition it would become independent. This happened in 1968, and Nauru has been a stable democracy since that time. In the last three decades of the 20th century, Nauru had enormous per capita wealth from the phosphate mining, to the point they were some of the richest people on the planet. However, when this ended and the investments were depleted, it has had a harder time, and international aid is important in the 21st century.
"Nauru Bwiema" is the national anthem of Nauru. The lyrics were written by Margaret Hendrie, with music composed by Laurence Henry Hicks. It was adopted in 1968, upon attaining independence from the mostly Australian-administered UN Trusteeship.
Hammer DeRoburt was a Nauruan politician and independence leader. He led negotiations for independence from Australia and the end of the country's status as a United Nations trust territory. He was subsequently elected as the inaugural president of Nauru, serving four terms in office. Prior to independence he was head chief of Nauru and chair of the Nauru Local Government Council.
Australian rules football in Nauru dates back to the 1910s. Australian rules football became the national sport of Nauru after its independence in 1968. Today, its national participation rate is over 30%, the highest in the world.
The British Phosphate Commissioners (BPC) was a board of Australian, British, and New Zealand representatives who managed extraction of phosphate from Christmas Island, Nauru, and Banaba from 1920 until 1981.
Foreign relations exist between Australia and Nauru. Australia administered Nauru as a dependent territory from 1914 to 1968 and has remained one of Nauru's foremost economic and aid partners thereafter. Nauru has a High Commission in Canberra and a consulate-general in Brisbane. Australia is one of only two countries to have a High Commission in Nauru. Both countries are members of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Nauruan nationality law is regulated by the 1968 Constitution of Nauru, as amended; the Naoero Citizenship Act of 2017, and its revisions; custom; and international agreements entered into by the Nauruan government. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Nauru. The legal means to acquire nationality, formal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as citizenship. Nauruan nationality is typically obtained either on the principle of jus soli, i.e. by birth in the Nauru or under the rules of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth to parents with Nauruan nationality. Naturalization is only available to those with some connection to the country, such as the spouse of a citizen; no amount of time living in Nauru will, by itself, make one eligible for naturalization.
The German attacks on Nauru were conducted in December 1940 on the island of Nauru, an Australian-administered League of Nations mandate in the Central Pacific. Nauru was of considerable strategic importance for its phosphate resources. The attacks were conducted by auxiliary cruisers between 6 and 8 December and on 27 December. The raiders sank five Allied merchant ships and inflicted serious damage on Nauru's economically important phosphate-loading facilities. Under the terms of the League of Nations mandate, the island had no fortifications or military facilities and was consequently undefended, with the German forces unimpeded in their operations.
The Nauru Island Agreement was a joint trusteeship document between the governments of the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand regarding administration of the Pacific island of Nauru. Australia assented to the agreement on 28 October 1919. The act ceased to be in force with the passing of the Statute Law Revision Act 1973.
Nauruan law, since Nauru's independence from Australia in 1968, is derived primarily from English and Australian common law, though it also integrates indigenous customary law to a limited extent. Nauruan common law is founded mainly on statute law enacted by the Parliament of Nauru, and on precedents set by judicial interpretations of statutes, customs and prior precedents.
The Japanese occupation of Nauru was the period of three years during which Nauru, a Pacific island which at that time was under Australian administration, was occupied by the Japanese military as part of its operations in the Pacific War during World War II. With the onset of the war, the islands that flanked Japan's South Seas possessions became of vital concern to Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, and in particular to the Imperial Navy, which was tasked with protecting Japan's outlying Pacific territories.
Elections for the Legislative Council for the Territory of Nauru were held for the first and only time on 22 January 1966.
Constitutional Convention elections were held in Nauru on 16 December 1967. The convention was established by the Nauru Legislative Council pursuant to the Nauru Independence Act 1967, which allowed for Nauru's independence and the end of its status as a United Nations trust territory administered by Australia.
Elections for a Legislative Assembly were held in Nauru on 26 January 1968, following passage of the Nauru Independence Act 1967 which granted Nauru independence from Australia with effect from 31 January 1968.
Austin Bernicke was a Nauruan politician. He was a member of the first Local Government Council in 1951, then a member of Parliament after it was established in 1966, serving until his death in 1977. He also served as a cabinet minister from 1968 until 1976.
James Ategan Bop was a Nauruan politician. He served as a member of Parliament and its predecessors from 1951 to 1955 and then from 1959 until his death, and was Minister of Finance for most of the period between 1968 and 1978.
The 1948 Nauru riots occurred when Chinese labourers employed on the phosphate mines refused to leave the island. At the time, Nauru was dominated by Australia as a United Nations trust territory, with New Zealand and the UK as co-trustees.
The Nauru Local Government Council was a legislative body in Nauru. It was first established in 1951, when Nauru was a United Nations trust territory, as a successor to the Council of Chiefs. It continued to exist until 1992, when it was dissolved in favor of the Nauru Island Council.
The Council of Chiefs was a Nauruan political body. It was formally established in 1927, and served as an advisory body to the Administrator. It was replaced in 1951 by the Nauru Local Government Council.
