]! ^! The exact origins of the Nauruans are unclear, since their language does not resemble any other in the Pacific. The island was annexed by Germany in 1888 and its phosphate deposits began to be mined early in the 20th century by a German-British consortium. Nauru was occupied by Australian forces in World War I and subsequently became a League of Nations mandate. After the Second World War - and a brutal occupation by Japan - Nauru became a UN trust territory. It achieved its independence in 1968 and joined the UN in 1999 as the world's smallest independent republic. 
]" ^" Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, south of the Marshall Islands ^# 0 32 S, 166 55 E ^$ Oceania ^% `! 21 sq km `" 21 sq km `# 0 sq km ^& about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC ^' 0 km ^( 30 km ^) `$ 12 nm `M 24 nm `N 200 nm ^* tropical with a monsoonal pattern; rainy season (November to February) ^+ sandy beach rises to fertile ring around raised coral reefs with phosphate plateau in center ^, `% Pacific Ocean 0 m `& unnamed location along plateau rim 61 m ^- phosphates, fish ^. `' 0% `( 0% `) 100% (2005) ^/ NA ^0 periodic droughts ^1 limited natural fresh water resources, roof storage tanks collect rainwater, but mostly dependent on a single, aging desalination plant; intensive phosphate mining during the past 90 years - mainly by a UK, Australia, and NZ consortium - has left the central 90% of Nauru a wasteland and threatens limited remaining land resources _P `P Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling `Q none of the selected agreements ^2 Nauru is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean - the others are Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and Makatea in French Polynesia; only 53 km south of Equator 
]# ^3 13,528 (July 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 36.4% (male 2,508/female 2,410) `, 61.6% (male 4,111/female 4,224) `- 2% (male 144/female 131) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 21 years `. 20.4 years `/ 21.5 years (2007 est.) ^6 1.781% (2007 est.) ^7 24.47 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 6.65 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.05 male(s)/female `1 1.041 male(s)/female `, 0.973 male(s)/female `- 1.099 male(s)/female `2 1 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 9.6 deaths/1,000 live births `. 12.07 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 7.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 63.44 years `. 59.85 years `/ 67.21 years (2007 est.) ^= 3.02 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> NA ^? NA ^@ NA ^A `3 Nauruan(s) `4 Nauruan ^B Nauruan 58%, other Pacific Islander 26%, Chinese 8%, European 8% ^C Christian (two-thirds Protestant, one-third Roman Catholic) ^D Nauruan (official; a distinct Pacific Island language), English widely understood, spoken, and used for most government and commercial purposes ^E `5 NA `2 NA `. NA `/ NA 
]$ ^F `6 Republic of Nauru `7 Nauru `Z Republic of Nauru `[ Nauru `\ Pleasant Island ^H republic ^I no official capital; government offices in Yaren District `: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) ^J 14 districts; Aiwo, Anabar, Anetan, Anibare, Baiti, Boe, Buada, Denigomodu, Ewa, Ijuw, Meneng, Nibok, Uaboe, Yaren ^K 31 January 1968 (from the Australia-, NZ-, and UK-administered UN trusteeship) ^L Independence Day, 31 January (1968) ^M 29 January 1968; amended 17 May 1968 (Constitution Day) ^N acts of the Nauru Parliament and British common law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations ^O 20 years of age; universal and compulsory ^P `; President Ludwig SCOTTY (since 22 June 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government `< President Ludwig SCOTTY (since 22 June 2004) `= Cabinet appointed by the president from among the members of Parliament `> president elected by Parliament for a three-year term; election last held 23 October 2004 (next to be held in June 2007) `? Ludwig SCOTTY was unopposed in the parliamentary elections for president ^Q unicameral Parliament (18 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms) `> last held 23 October 2004 (next to be held not later than 2007) `? percent of vote - NA; seats - Nauru First Party 3, independents 15 ^R Supreme Court ^S Democratic Party [Kennan ADEANG]; Nauru Party (informal); Nauru First (Naoero Amo) Party; note - loose multiparty system ^T NA ^U ACP, AsDB, C, FAO, ICAO, ICCt, Interpol, IOC, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO ^V `R Ambassador Vinci Niel CLODUMAR `S 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400 D, New York, NY 10017 `T [1] (212) 937-0074 `U [1] (212) 937-0079 `^ Agana (Guam) ^W the US does not have an embassy in Nauru; the US Ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Nauru ^X blue with a narrow, horizontal, yellow stripe across the center and a large white 12-pointed star below the stripe on the hoist side; the star indicates the country's location in relation to the Equator (the yellow stripe) and the 12 points symbolize the 12 original tribes of Nauru 
]% ^Y Revenues of this tiny island have traditionally come from exports of phosphates, now significantly depleted. An Australian company in 2005 entered into an agreement intended to exploit remaining supplies. Few other resources exist with most necessities being imported, mainly from Australia, its former occupier and later major source of support. The rehabilitation of mined land and the replacement of income from phosphates are serious long-term problems. In anticipation of the exhaustion of Nauru's phosphate deposits, substantial amounts of phosphate income were invested in trust funds to help cushion the transition and provide for Nauru's economic future. As a result of heavy spending from the trust funds, the government faces virtual bankruptcy. To cut costs the government has frozen wages and reduced overstaffed public service departments. In 2005, the deterioration in housing, hospitals, and other capital plant continued, and the cost to Australia of keeping the government and economy afloat continued to climb. Few comprehensive statistics on the Nauru economy exist, with estimates of Nauru's GDP varying widely. ^Z $60 million (2005 est.) ^[ NA ^\ NA% ^] $5,000 (2005 est.) ^^ `@ NA% `A NA% `B NA% ^` `* employed in mining phosphates, public administration, education, and transportation (1992) ^a 90% (2004 est.) _! NA% _" `C NA% `D NA% _# -3.6% (1993) _$ `E $13.5 million `F $13.5 million (2005) _& coconuts _' phosphate mining, offshore banking, coconut products _( NA% _) 30 million kWh (2004) _* 27.9 million kWh (2004) _+ 0 kWh (2004) _, 0 kWh (2004) _- 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) _. 1,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) _/ NA bbl/day _0 NA bbl/day _1 0 cu m (2004 est.) _2 0 cu m (2004 est.) _3 $64,000 f.o.b. (2005 est.) _4 phosphates _5 South Africa 63.7%, South Korea 7.6%, Canada 6.6% (2005) _6 $20 million c.i.f. (2004 est.) _7 food, fuel, manufactures, building materials, machinery _8 South Korea 43.8%, Australia 36.2%, US 5.9%, Germany 4.3% (2005) _9 $33.3 million (2002) _: $20 million mostly from Australia (2005) _; Australian dollar (AUD) _< Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3285 (2006), 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002) _= 1 July - 30 June 
]& _> 1,900 (2002) _? 1,500 (2002) _@ `G adequate local and international radiotelephone communication provided via Australian facilities `H NA `I country code - 674; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) _A AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) _B 1 (1997) _C .nr _D 52 (2006) _E 300 (2002) 
]' _F 1 (2006) _G `! 1 `b 1 (2006) _H `! 30 km `K 24 km `L 6 km (1999 est.) _I Nauru 
]( _J no regular military forces; Nauru Police Force (2005) _K males age 18-49: 2,874 (2005 est.) _U NA _M Nauru maintains no defense forces; under an informal agreement, defense is the responsibility of Australia 
]) _N none 