50 Fun Facts About Nauru

Nauru lies in which subregion of Oceania?

Its nearest neighbour is Banaba, part of Kiribati, about 300 km to the east.

Nauru ranks where among the world's countries by area?

Only Vatican City and Monaco are smaller; Nauru covers 21 square kilometres.

Roughly how many people live on Nauru?

Only two sovereign states have fewer people.

Nauru's squandered mining wealth is often cited as a classic example of what?

Mismanagement of the accumulated wealth caused serious financial trouble through the 2000s.

What is Nauru's name in the Nauruan language, adopted as its official English name in 2026?

Early colonial spellings included Naura, Nawodo and Onawero.

What did British captain John Fearn call Nauru when he sighted it in 1798?

He was the first Westerner to report seeing it, from the trading ship Hunter.

How many traditional clans did Nauru have, as represented on its flag?

Descent was traditionally traced through the mother's line.

Traditional Nauruans raised which fish in Buada Lagoon after acclimatising them to fresh water?

The juvenile fish, called ibija, gave the island a reliable food supply.

What did the Nauruan Civil War of 1878-88 have in common with the arrival of European ships?

The war ended with the colonial annexation of 1888.

Which empire annexed Nauru in 1888?

It was administered as part of the Marshall Islands Protectorate.

Who discovered phosphate on Nauru in 1900?

He had spotted a suspicious lump of 'petrified wood' in a Sydney office.

The rock that led Albert Ellis to Nauru's phosphate had been serving as what in Sydney?

His colleague had planned to make children's marbles from it.

Which country's troops captured Nauru from its colonial ruler in 1914?

The Treaty of Versailles later placed the island under a League of Nations mandate.

Under the 1919 Nauru Island Agreement, mining was handled by which intergovernmental body?

Canberra, Wellington and London shared the arrangement.

During World War II, Japan deported 1,200 Nauruans to work as labourers where?

Only 745 survived to be repatriated in January 1946.

In the 1960s Canberra proposed resettling the entire Nauruan population where?

Nauruans refused because they would not be granted sovereignty there.

On what date did Nauru become independent?

Independence came under the Nauru Independence Act 1967 passed in Canberra.

Who was Nauru's first president?

He served four separate terms between 1968 and 1989.

Which of these is true of Nauru's seat of government?

Yaren, seat of parliament, is usually listed as the de facto capital.

How many seats are there in Nauru's parliament?

All are elected every three years, and most members sit as independents.

Roughly what share of Nauru's land has been left uninhabitable by mining?

The plateau is a wasteland of limestone pinnacles up to 15 metres high.

What is the highest point on Nauru?

Coral cliffs surround the raised central plateau.

Nauru's phosphate trust fund shrank from A$1.3 billion in 1991 to roughly what by 2002?

Failed investments included financing Leonardo the Musical in 1993.

What was repossessed from Air Nauru in December 2005?

Service resumed with a replacement 737-300 in June 2006.

What currency does Nauru use?

The same neighbour is also responsible for the island's defence.

Nauru's detention centre was opened in 2001 as part of which Australian government policy?

It began under the Howard government in 2001.

As of 2017, the detention centre accounted for roughly what share of Nauru's GDP?

Its 2008 closure had cost about 100 jobs on the island.

Nauru's 2001 detention arrangement grew out of which incident involving a Norwegian ship?

The MV Tampa had rescued 438 refugees and was refused entry and boarded by troops.

In 2009 Nauru became the fourth country to recognise which two breakaway regions of Georgia?

Moscow was reported to reward the move with tens of millions of dollars in aid; the recognition was withdrawn in 2026.

Nauru switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 2002 for how much aid?

It swung back to Taipei in 2005 and to Beijing again in January 2024.

In March 2025 Nauru launched a 'golden passport' scheme to fund what?

Citizenship costs at least $105,000 and requires no residency.

By mean body mass index, Nauruans hold which world record?

About 97 percent of men and 93 percent of women are overweight or obese.

Nauru has the world's highest rate of which disease, affecting more than 40 percent of people?

It also has the world's highest tobacco smoking rate.

What is Nauru's most popular sport?

An eight-team league plays it, and the national teams rank among the world's top eight.

Before 2012, every athlete who competed for Nauru at the Olympics did so in which sport?

The nation first competed at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

What does the narrow gold stripe on Nauru's flag represent?

The white star just below it marks the island's position one degree south of the line.

Angam Day, held on 26 October, celebrates what?

It marks the rebound after two world wars and the 1920 influenza epidemic.

What are the two official languages of Nauru?

Nauruan is a distinct Micronesian language spoken at home by 96 percent of ethnic Nauruans.

Which endemic bird survives on Nauru?

The island has no native land mammals.

How many rivers does Nauru have?

Water comes from roof catchments or arrives as ballast on phosphate ships.

In 2025, which city did Nauru's airline fly to most often?

In 2025 flights ran to Brisbane four days a week, with limited service to Nadi and Bonriki.

Nauru joined the United Nations in which year?

It became a full Commonwealth member the same year.

Nauru's nearest neighbour, Banaba, about 300 km to the east, belongs to which country?

Banaba, also called Ocean Island, was another of the Pacific's great phosphate rock islands.

What is the total land area of Nauru?

The oval island is ringed by a fringing coral reef that has prevented the building of a seaport.

After annexing Nauru in 1888, Germany administered it as part of which territory?

The German arrival ended the Nauruan civil war and kings were established as rulers of the island.

In which year did Nauru become self-governing, two years before full independence?

Australia's parliament then passed the Nauru Independence Act 1967, and independence came on 31 January 1968.

Besides Nauru and Banaba, which French Polynesian island was the third great Pacific phosphate rock island?

Nauru's own phosphate reserves are now almost entirely depleted.

Which was the island's largest Christian denomination in 2021?

It claimed 34.3 percent of the population, just ahead of the Catholic Church on 33.9 percent.

Nauru's mismanaged phosphate trust financed which failed 1993 stage production?

Other losses included the Mercure Hotel in Sydney and Nauru House in Melbourne.

In which year did Nauru announce its first confirmed COVID-19 cases on the island?

A state of emergency had been declared on 17 March 2020, two years before the first diagnoses on 2 April 2022.