The Republic of Nauru (Ripubrikin Naoero in Nauru; Republic of Nauru in English) is a state of Micronesia, located in the central Pacific Ocean, comprising a single island just south of the equator. It is bordered to the north by the Federated States of Micronesia, to the east by Kiribati, to the south by the Solomon Islands and to the west by Papua New Guinea. 4,000 km to the southwest is Australia. It is an oval-shaped atoll, elevated, steep on its sea shore and with sandy beaches interspersed with coral mounds on its inner shore, and with a surface area of 21.3 km² (2,130 ha).
Geography
According to abbreviationfinder, Nauru is a small phosphate island surrounded by a reef that is exposed at low tide in the western Pacific Ocean, south of the Marshall Islands. Most of the population lives in a narrow coastal belt. A central plain covers approximately 45% of the territory and rises about 65 meters above sea level. It has a small lagoon to the southwest of the island called Laguna de Buada.
The intensive extraction of phosphate by English companies has greatly affected the Nauru ecosystem, leaving 90% of the central part of the island as a non-arable plain, in addition to limiting the current resources that the country possesses.
An aerial image of Nauru in 2002 from the US Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program. Regenerated vegetation covers 63% of the land that was removed.
Nauru was one of three large phosphate islands in the Pacific Ocean (the others are Banaba in Kiribati and Makatea in French Polynesia); however, phosphate reserves are almost depleted after devastating 80% of the island, leaving a barren terrain of jagged limestone pinnacles up to 15 meters high. Mining has also had an impact on marine life that has been reduced by 40%.
Economy
Nauru’s economy is based on the phosphate deposits that occupy much of the island. Its exploitation was started at the beginning of the 20th century by the British Phospate Corporation, which in 1967 sold its rights to the country for 20 million Australian dollars, 3 years later, in 1970 the Nauru Phospate Corporation was created to manage these resources. The feverish pace of growth in the following decades, with more than six million tons extracted since 1935, quickly depleted the fields, which, together with low international demand and rising production costs led the government to initiate a policy urgent diversification of the economy.
Phosphates gave Nauru a per capita income that placed it on the threshold of the developed world, in addition to exceptional living conditions, since there was neither unemployment, nor were taxes and social services totally free. However, the rehabilitation of the phosphate extraction fields and the replacement of the income generated by the sale of the same have been serious problems in the long term. The government has tried to cover the fiscal deficit through borrowing.
Another source of income was the rents collected at Nauru House, one of the tallest buildings in Melbourne, which was built with the proceeds from the sale of phosphates. Unfortunately, mismanagement and corruption in the 1990s led to his ruin. The large revenue from phosphate mining was wasted. In November 2004, in an effort to pay off Nauru’s creditors, assets that the nation owned in Melbourne, including Nauru House, were sold.
In order to boost its economy, Nauru became a tax haven in the 1990s. By then, anyone could set up an account for less than $ 25,000 without ever visiting the island or having any record of their identity. The Russian mafia took advantage of this scenario for their own benefit; With the policy of banking silence the Russian gangsters transferred around 70 billion dollars in assets according to an estimate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. This situation caused the FATF to identify Nauru as one of the 15 non-cooperative countries in the fight against money laundering. However, the situation changed, as of October 2005, when a law was passed eliminating the possibility of money laundering. Following this law, passed thanks to pressure from the FATF,
Culture
The culture of Nauru preserves some of the traditions of the original tribes of the island, but the introduction of Western influences is evident, which have largely displaced the former. See population of Nauru.
The Nauruans descend from the Polynesians and Micronesians, who believed in the goddess Eijebong and the spirit of the earth called Buitani. Two of the original twelve tribes became extinct in the 20th century: today, October 26 is celebrated as Angam Day, which celebrates the recovery of Nauru’s population after the world wars that reduced the indigenous population to less 1500 residents. Some traditions, in relation to music, art and fishing, for example, remain in force among the residents, but the displacement of their culture by foreign traditions is palpable.
There is no daily news, but there are publications every fortnight and bulletins. There is a television station, Nauru Television (NTV), which broadcasts programs from New Zealand, and a non-commercial state radio station, Radio Nauru, which broadcasts programs from Radio Australia and the BBC. Both are state-owned.
