The Republic of Nauru (English: The Republic of Nauru, Nauru: Ripublik Naoero), referred to as Nauru (Nǎolǔ).

Located in the Central Pacific, about 60 kilometers south of the equator, it is composed of an independent coral reef island. The island is 6 kilometers long and 4 kilometers wide. The coastline is about 30 kilometers long and the highest point is 61 meters above sea level. Three fifths of the island was once covered by phosphate. It has a tropical rainforest climate, with an average annual temperature of 24°C-38°C and an average annual rainfall of 1500 mm. It is known as the “paradise island”. Nauru has a land area of ​​21.1 square kilometers and a maritime exclusive economic zone of 320,000 square kilometers, making it the smallest island nation in the world.

The Naurus are a group of Micronesians, a mixture of Malays, Melanesians, and Polynesians. With the depletion of phosphate reserves and the deterioration of the environment caused by mining, coupled with the impairment of the management of the island-wide wealth fund, the Nauru government turned to some unusual methods to obtain income.

In the 1990s, Nauru became a tax haven and money laundering center. Since 2005, Nauru has received assistance from the Australian government. In return, Nauru has established a detention facility to deal with refugees who entered Australia illegally.

History

Nauru is a coral island; it is the smallest island nation in the world, and Nauru people have lived on this island for a thousand years. Although Nauru is not large, it has been occupied by other countries many times.

In 1798, the Hunter (or the American Hunter Whaler) under the command of the British captain John Fein discovered Nauru and named it Happy Island at that time.

The island was annexed by Germany in 1888 and became a colony of the German Empire. It was originally called Nauru and was incorporated into the German Marshall Islands Protected Area. In the 1890s, it was discovered that there were abundant phosphate resources on the island. In 1901, the British were allowed to mine phosphates here.

In November 1914, during the First World War, the British hired an Australian Expeditionary Force to occupy the island and put an end to German rule.

In 1919, the League of Nations placed Nauru under the joint trusteeship of Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, with Australia acting on behalf of the three countries, while phosphate mining was controlled by the British Phosphate Commission.

During the Second World War (1942), Nauru was occupied by Japan. In 1945, Australia occupied Nauru and ended Japanese rule.

In 1947, it became the trusteeship of the United Nations. Nauru was once again placed under the trusteeship of Australia, Britain, and New Zealand, and managed by Australia on behalf of the three countries.

In 1964, Nauru began a struggle for independence and control of phosphate. The United Nations once proposed to move the Nauru people to settle on the island of Cortis in the north of Australia, which was strongly opposed by the Nauru people.

The Constitution was adopted on January 29, 1968. On January 31, the Republic of Nauru was approved by the United Nations to declare independence, and Hammer de Roberts became the first president. In November of the same year, Nauru became a special member of the Commonwealth (not entitled to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting).

In 1970, Nauru redeemed the assets of the British Phosphate Company and obtained control of phosphate.

In 1995, in protest against France’s resumption of nuclear tests in the South Pacific, the Nauru government announced that it would suspend diplomatic relations with France on September 6.

On September 15, 1999, Nauru was accepted as a member of the United Nations, becoming the least-populous member of the United Nations.

In June 2000, the Financial Working Group of the Group of Seven Anti-Money Laundering Institutions included Nauru on the money laundering blacklist. On December 20, 2002, the Bush administration announced that it would begin to take punitive measures against Ukraine and Nauru, which are deterring terrorists from using its banking system to launder money. Many banks opened outside Nauru were forced to close in 2003 due to money laundering.