Nauru is formally the Republic of Nauru and formerly referred to as Pleasant Island, an island nation and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its local neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, 300 kilometres (190 mi) to the eastern. It further exists northwest of Tuvalu, 1,300 km (810 mi) northeast of Solomon Islands, east-northeast of Papua New Guinea, southeast of the Federated States of Micronesia as well as southern of the Marshall Islands.

With just a 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi) location, Nauru is the third-smallest country worldwide behind Vatican City as well as Monaco, making it the tiniest republic along with the smallest island country. Its populace of about 10,000 is the globe’s second-smallest (not consisting of colonies or abroad territories), after Vatican City.

Cleared up by individuals from Micronesia circa 1000 BCE, Nauru was linked as well as asserted as a nest by the German Empire in the late 19th century. After World War I, Nauru became an Organization of Countries mandate carried out by Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Throughout World War II, Nauru was inhabited by Japanese troops, and was bypassed by the Allied advance across the Pacific. After the battle finished, the nation entered into United Nations trusteeship. Nauru gained its independence in 1968, and came to be a participant of the Pacific Community (SPC) in 1969.

Nauru is a phosphate-rock island with rich down payments near the surface area, which enabled very easy strip mining operations. Its staying phosphate resources are not financially feasible for extraction. Since the phosphate reserves were exhausted in the 1990s, as well as the island’s setting has actually been seriously hurt by mining, the trust fund developed to manage the island’s riches has actually lessened in worth.

To make earnings, Nauru briefly became a tax obligation place as well as unlawful money laundering centre. From 2001 to 2008, as well as again from 2012, it approved aid from the Australian Federal government in exchange for organizing the Nauru Regional Handling Centre, a debatable overseas Australian immigration detention facility.

As a result of hefty dependancy on Australia, some resources have determined Nauru as a client state of Australia. The sovereign state is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations and the African, Caribbean, and also Pacific Group of States.