Naoero
Where is Naoero located?
Why is Naoero famous?
Why did Nauru change its name to Naoero?
What language is spoken in Naoero?
How many people live in Naoero?
Naoero, island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of a raised coral island located in southeastern Micronesia, 25 miles (40 km) south of the Equator. Formerly called Nauru, the country changed its name to Naoero in 2026. The government said that the change restored the island’s indigenous name.
The island is about 800 miles (1,300 km) northeast of the Solomon Islands; its closest neighbor is the island of Banaba, in Kiribati, some 200 miles (300 km) to the east. Naoero has no official capital, but government offices are located in the district of Yaren.
- Head Of State And Government:
- President: David Adeang
- Capital:
- See footnote 2.
- Population:
- (2026 est.) 12,500
- Form Of Government:
- republic with one legislative house (Parliament [19])
- Official Language:
- none1
- Official Religion:
- none
- Official Name:
- Naoero (Nauruan1) (Republic of Nauru)
- Total Area (Sq Km):
- 21
- Total Area (Sq Mi):
- 8
- Monetary Unit:
- Australian dollar ($A)
- Population Rank:
- (2026) 221
- Population Projection 2030:
- 11,700
- Density: Persons Per Sq Mi:
- (2026) 1,562.5
- Density: Persons Per Sq Km:
- (2026) 595.2
- Urban-Rural Population:
- Urban: (2024) 100%
- Rural: (2024) 0%
- Life Expectancy At Birth:
- Male: (2021) 60.9 years
- Female: (2021) 67.1 years
- Gni (U.S.$ ’000,000):
- (2024) 244
- Gni Per Capita (U.S.$):
- (2024) 20,400
- Officially:
- Republic of Naoero
- Formerly:
- Nauru
- Nauruan is the national language; English is the language of business and government.
- No official capital; government offices are located in Yaren district.
Land
Most of Naoero rises somewhat abruptly from the ocean, and there are no harbors or protected anchorages. A fairly fertile but relatively narrow belt encircles the island and surrounds the shallow inland Buada Lagoon. Farther inland, coral cliffs rise to a plateau 100 feet (30 meters) above sea level, with the highest point at about 213 feet (65 meters). The plateau is largely composed of rock phosphate, leached from guano, or bird droppings. The mineral deposit covers more than two-thirds of the island, and its extraction has left irregular, pinnacle-shaped outcrops of limestone that give the landscape a forbidding, otherworldly appearance.
Naoero is the third smallest country in the world.
Naoero’s climate is tropical, with daytime temperatures in the low 80s F (about 28 °C), tempered by ocean breezes. Rainfall, averaging about 80 inches (2,000 mm) annually, is extremely variable, and prolonged droughts occur. The only locally available water is collected from roof catchment systems, and water is imported as ballast on ships returning to Naoero for loads of phosphate. There are no rivers or streams.
Soils are generally poor and highly porous, and the irregular rainfall limits cultivation to the coastal belt and the lagoon’s fringe. Phosphate mining has ravaged the interior of the island, leaving about four-fifths of it uninhabitable and uncultivable. Subsistence crops, consisting mainly of coconut palms, pandanus, bananas, pineapple, and some vegetables, are not adequate to support the population; the land does yield a great variety of plants and trees, however. Naoero is a favorite stopover point for migratory birds, and chickens have been introduced. There was an absence of mammals until rats, mice, cats, dogs, and pigs were also imported.
People
Most of the island’s residents are indigenous dei-Naoero (referred to in English as Nauruans). There are small numbers of I-Kiribati (Gilbertese), Australians, New Zealanders, Chinese, and Tuvaluans; many members of the latter two groups were recruited as workers by the phosphate industry. Nauruan, known locally as dorerin Naoero, is the national language and is classified by UNESCO as “severely endangered.” No adequate written grammar of the language has been compiled, and its relationships to other Micronesian languages are not well understood. English is widely spoken. Naoero is considered one of the most Westernized countries in the South Pacific.
Missionization came later to Naoero than to many other Pacific islands. The first Protestant evangelist arrived in 1899 and was followed three years later by the first Roman Catholic missionary. Today more than four-fifths of dei-Naoero are Christians; more than half the total population is Protestant (mostly members of the Nauru Congregational Church), and one-third is Roman Catholic.
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The settlement pattern on the island is dispersed. People are scattered along the coastal zone, and there is one small village, Buada, inland near the lagoon.
Economy
Agriculture (with the exception of coffee and copra plantations along the coastal and lagoon perimeters), fishing, manufacturing, and tourism are of minor value to the overall economy. However, Naoero has an exclusive economic zone extending 200 miles (320 km) offshore. The sale of commercial fishing licenses began to bring in a steady revenue during the 1990s.
Phosphate has been mined on Naoero since 1907. For decades it was Naoero’s main resource and sole export, dominating the island’s economy, and its quality was the highest in the world. The phosphate industry and government services together provided almost all of the island’s salaried employment. For much of the 20th century the phosphate industry was owned and operated by a corporation jointly managed by the British, Australian, and New Zealand governments. The government of independent Nauru gained control of phosphate operations in 1970, and in the 1980s the country was for a time one of the wealthiest in the world in terms of gross domestic product per capita. Landowners received royalties from the phosphate earnings, and many Nauruans were unemployed by choice. By the late 20th century, however, the phosphate deposits were quickly becoming exhausted, and Nauru experienced a severe drop-off in earnings, leading to the country’s near bankruptcy by the early years of the 21st century. It struggled to develop other resources and find alternative sources of income. However, the country experienced some economic respite late in the first decade of the 2000s when repairs and improvements to mining-related infrastructure expedited the extraction and export of the remaining primary phosphate deposits and allowed the more difficult extraction of secondary phosphate deposits.
In the early 21st century, the island agreed to temporarily house hundreds of Australia-bound asylum seekers while they awaited the processing of their applications. In exchange, the Australian government provided millions of dollars in aid to Nauru.
Virtually all food, water, and manufactured goods are imported. Australia supplies nine-tenths of Naoero’s imports; far smaller amounts come from New Zealand, Fiji, and Japan. Nigeria receives almost half of Naoero’s exports, and South Korea and Australia combined take another one-third. With the exception of those levied on alcohol and tobacco, there are no import duties. There is no income tax.
The financial sector grew in importance after the 1980s as the island became known as an offshore banking center and tax haven. Beginning in 1999, amid allegations that it was a money-laundering conduit for organized crime and terrorist organizations, the financial sector underwent a series of reforms to increase its transparency. As one consequence of its colonial history, Naoero is within the Australian monetary system, and Australian currency is the country’s legal tender.
Transportation on the island is good. A paved road system links all villages. Surface transportation to other destinations is difficult. Because there are no wharves or natural harbors, passengers and cargo are shuttled by barge between oceangoing vessels and a small artificial anchorage. Most regional and international travel is by air. Naoero’s sole airport is located in Yaren district. In 1970 the country launched its national airline, control of which was transferred in 1996 to a government-owned corporation.
Government and society
Naoero’s constitution, implemented with independence in 1968, calls for broadly phrased fundamental rights and freedoms for individuals and a government that combines parliamentary and presidential systems. The parliament, whose members are elected by dei-Naoero citizens age 20 and older, has a tenure of three years unless dissolved by a vote of no confidence. It elects the president, who is both head of state and head of government. The president appoints a cabinet from the parliament. In 1999 Naoero became a full member of both the Commonwealth and the United Nations.
The tripartite judicial system comprises a Supreme Court, a District Court, and a Family Court. The Supreme Court, presided over by a chief justice, has both original and appellate jurisdiction. At Naoero’s request, final appeals may be taken to the High Court of Australia.
Basic services in education and health are provided free to all citizens, though services have been reduced as a result of the country’s changing economic fortunes. There is no government social security system. Education is compulsory between ages 6 and 16. The government provides several kindergartens and elementary and secondary schools. The Roman Catholic mission has its own school system at the same three levels. Traditionally, students have gone abroad, mainly to Australia, for higher education.