🇳🇷 Nauru

National Flag

Geography & Borders

This country has no land borders.

Introduction & Background

Nauru (/nɑːˈuːruː/ nah-OO-roo9 or /ˈnaʊruː/ NOW-roo;10 Template:Lang-na), officially the Republic of Nauru (Template:Lang-na) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, about 300km (190mi) to the east.11 It further lies northwest of Tuvalu, 1,300km (810mi) northeast of Solomon Islands,12 east-northeast of Papua New Guinea, southeast of the Federated States of Micronesia and south of the Marshall Islands. With only a 21km2 (8.1sqmi) area, Nauru is the third-smallest country in the world behind Vatican City and Monaco, making it the smallest republic as well as the smallest island nation. Its population of about 10,000 is the world's second-smallest (not including colonies or overseas territories), after Vatican City.

Settled by people from Micronesia circa 1000 BCE, Nauru was annexed and claimed as a colony by the German Empire in the late 19th century. After World WarI, Nauru became a League of Nations mandate administered by Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. During World WarII, Nauru was occupied by Japanese troops, and was bypassed by the Allied advance across the Pacific. After the war ended, the country entered into United Nations trusteeship. Nauru gained its independence in 1968, and became a member of the Pacific Community (PC) in 1969.