Nauru is located in the deep, blue Pacific Ocean waters north of the Solomon Islands. An uplifted coral formation, Nauru is just 21 kilometres square and lies some 40 kilometres south of the Equator. Nauru is the world's smallest island nation. With a mostly Micronesian population of around 10,000 people is the second least-populated country after Vatican City. Nauru is the smallest country in the world after Vatican City and Monaco.
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, it entered into trusteeship again. Nauru gained its independence in 1968.
Flag of Nauru
Jappans antiaircraft machinegun
This island was a major exporter of phosphate starting in 1907, when the Pacific Phosphate Company began mining there, through the formation of the British Phosphate Commission in 1919, and continuing after independence. This gave Nauru back full control of its minerals under the Nauru Phosphate Corporation, until the deposits ran out during the 1980s. For this reason, Nauru briefly 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 Government in exchange for housing a Nauru detention centre that held and processed those who had tried to enter Australia irregularly.
Nauru International Airport
The Parliament House
Nauru, with its small population, has no armed forces. Under an informal agreement, its defence is the responsibility of Australia. There is a small police force under civilian control.
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