Q 01/05

Nauru lies in which subregion of Oceania?

A) Micronesia

B) Polynesia

C) Melanesia

D) Australasia

Answer · why

A) Micronesia

Micronesia. Nauru's long isolation there is believed to explain why its language doesn't clearly resemble any other in the Pacific.

Q 02/05

Besides Vatican City, which country is smaller than Nauru by area?

A) San Marino

B) Monaco

C) Liechtenstein

D) Malta

Answer · why

B) Monaco

Monaco. Both it and Vatican City are in Europe, which makes Nauru the smallest country outside it, yet phosphate once made its people among the riches...

Q 03/05

In 2025, roughly how many people lived on Nauru?

A) 1,200

B) 12,000

C) 120,000

D) 1.2 million

Answer · why

B) 12,000

About 12,000. Most of them live on the narrow coastal rim, around an interior that phosphate mining left uninhabitable.

Q 04/05

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

A) The poverty trap

B) The resource curse

C) Hyperinflation

D) The Malthusian trap

Answer · why

B) The resource curse

The resource curse. When the phosphate ran out, so did the money: the national bank went broke, and in 2004 Australian officials were brought in to ru...

Q 05/05

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

A) Uaboe

B) Naoero

C) Nawodo

D) Anibare

Answer · why

B) Naoero

Naoero, pronounced 'Now-ero'. The government said 'Nauru' took hold only because foreign tongues couldn't pronounce the original, and it dropped a pla...