From Wikitravel

Nauru[1] is a small island in the South Pacific Ocean, south of the Marshall Islands and is the world's smallest independent republic. Although other island states may be smaller and/or less populous, they are all dependent territories of other countries.

[edit] Understand

Mining of Nauru's phosphate deposits, which occupied about 90% of the island, began in the early 20th century under a German-British consortium. During World War I, the island was occupied by Australian forces and became a dependent territory. Nauru achieved independence in 1968. In the 1980's phosphate exports gave Nauruans one of the highest per capita incomes in the Third World. As at 2008, most of Nauru's revenue comes from the export of phosphate to Australia, South Korea and New Zealand as well as other coutries. It is anticipated that the phospahte reserves will be completed exhausted before 2050. The sale of fishing licences is the other major revenue raiser. Countries such as Australia and Taiwan provide substantial development cooperation funding.

In 2001 the container ship Tampa rescued several hundred "refugees" from a sinking Indonesian vessel and attempted to the deliver them to Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, which is an Australian Federal Territory. In what is cynically known as The Pacific Solution, the Australian Government established an Off Shore Processing Centre (OPC) on Nauru where these people were housed, pending assessment of ther claims to be refugees. In exchange for accepting the OPC Nauru was provided with extra aid by Australia. The OPC was closed in early 2008.

The climate is tropical, with some rain occurring between November and February. The are a few "sandy" beaches but most of the shallow area around the island is coral reefs. Most of the interior of the island is worked-out mining land, which is to be rehabilitated.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By plane

Nauru's national carrier "Our Airline" flies between Brisbane Australia and Nauru's international airport, usually once a week.

[edit] Get around

A 19km road circles the island. There is a community bus which travels around the island every hour or so during the day. Cars can sometimes be rented from Capelle and Partners, the largest local supermarket.

[edit] Talk

The official language is Nauruan, a distinct Pacific Island language. English is widely understood, spoken, and used for most government and commercial purposes.

[edit][add listing] Buy

Australian currency is used on Nauru.

[edit][add listing] Eat

Food is imported from Australia and arrives by ship, usually once every six to eight weeks. There are lots of small "eating places", selling Chinese food. There is also a fast food kiosk at Capelle's supermarket.

[edit][add listing] Drink

The Menen Hotel's Reef Bar is the only public bar in Nauru. It serves Australian beers and international spirits.

[edit][add listing] Sleep

There are two hotels, the more expensive Menen and the budget Od-N Aiwo.

[edit] Learn

The Nauru campus of the University of the South Pacific is in Aiwo district; most lectures are delivered by video.

[edit] Work

[edit] Stay safe

Be careful swimming in Nauru; ask advice before venturing into the water.

[edit] Stay healthy

Water supply in Nauru is dependent on rainwater collected into tanks from the roofs of houses and, a reverse osmosis desalination plant.

[edit] Respect

[edit] Contact

This article is an outline and needs more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. Please plunge forward and help it grow!