The Republic of Nauru is an island country in the south west Pacific (Polynesia). It has a total area of 21 km2. The climate is tropical with a monsoon; rainy season lasting from November to February. The terrain is a sandy beach rising to a fertile ring around raised coral reefs with a phosphateplateau in the centre, with 80% of the island uninhabitable due to mining. The natural resource is phosphates used for fertilizer manufacture. The religion is Christian (two-thirds Protestant, one-third Roman Catholic). The official language is Nauruan, a distinct Pacific Island language with English widely understood, spoken, and used for most government and commercial purposes.
The Island of Nauru was 'discovered' by the British in 1798 and seized by Germany in 1880, before being given to Australia by the League of Nations in 1920, finally realising independence in 1968. Nauru is an ecological disaster. Mining of phosphate by the islanders for sale to the industrialised world for use in fertilizers has provided short term wealth at the cost of making large areas of the island uninhabitable, and it is just a matter of time before the islanders are forced to leave. Research Nauru
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Research Nauru