History of Nauru

The history of Nauru has been intrinsically linked with the extraction of phosphate. Initially inhabited by Micronesian and Polynesian peoples, Nauru was annexed by Germany in the late 19th century, and extraction of the island's phosphate began in 1906. Following World War I it became a League of Nations mandate territory administered by Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The island was occupied by Japan during World War II, and after the war entered into trusteeship again. Nauru achieved independence in 1968.

Early history

Nauru was first settled by Micronesian and Polynesian peoples at least 3,000 years ago.Nauru Department of Economic Development and Environment. 2003. [http://www.unccd.int/cop/reports/asia/national/2002/nauru-eng.pdf First National Report To the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)] URL Accessed 2006-05-03] Nauruans subsisted on coconut and pandanus fruit, and caught juvenile "ibija" fish, acclimated them to freshwater conditions, and raised them in Buada Lagoon, providing an additional reliable source of food. [McDaniel, C. N. and Gowdy, J. M. 2000. "Paradise for Sale". University of California Press ISBN 0520222296 } pp 13-28] Traditionally only men were permitted to fish on the reef, and did so from canoes or by using trained Man-of-war Hawks.

In 1798 John Fearn, captain of the British whaling ship "Hunter", became the first European to land on the island, naming it Pleasant Island. This name was used until Germany annexed the island 90 years later. From around the 1830s, Nauruans had contact with Europeans from whaling ships and traders who replenished their supplies at the island. Around this time, beachcombers and deserters began to live on the island. The islanders traded food for alcoholic toddy and firearms. The latter were used during the 10-year war which began in 1878 and reduced the population from 1400 to 900.

German protectorate

The island was annexed by Germany in 1888 and incorporated into Germany's Marshall Islands Protectorate. The arrival of the Germans ended the war, and social changes brought about by the war established kings as rulers of the island, the most widely known being King Auweyida. Christian missionaries from the Gilbert Islands also arrived at the island in 1888. [Ellis, A. F. 1935. "Ocean Island and Nauru - their story". Angus and Robertson Limited. pp 29-39]

At the time there were twelve tribes on Nauru: Deiboe, Eamwidamit, Eamwidara, Eamwit, Eamgum, Eano, Emeo, Eoraru, Irutsi, Iruwa, Iwi and Ranibok. Today the twelve tribes are represented by the twelve-pointed star in the flag of Nauru.

Phosphate was discovered on the island by New Zealander Albert Ellis. Beginning in 1906, the Pacific Phosphate Company started exploitation of the rock, and the first shipment left Nauru in 1907. [Ellis, A.F. 1935. "Ocean Island and Nauru - their story." Angus and Robertson Limited ]

World War I

In 1914 Australia took control of Nauru. Then Britain held control until 1920, when the League of Nations gave Britain, Australia and New Zealand a Trustee Mandate over the territory. The British Phosphate Commissioners (BPC) were given the rights to phosphate mining.

In 1932, the first Angam Baby was born.

World War II

In December 1940 the Nazi German auxiliary cruisers "Orion" and "Komet" sank five merchant ships and bombarded the island, causing damage to the phosphate mining.

In 1942 the Japanese occupied Nauru. The native Nauruans were badly treated by the occupying forces. On one occasion forty nine leprosy sufferers were reputedly loaded on to boats which were towed out to sea and sunk. In 1943 some 1200 Nauruans were taken to Truk (now Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia) as slave labourers.

On January 1 1946 with Micronesia now under American control, the approximately 800 Nauruans who survived were returned to Nauru on a BPC ship 'Trienza'. During the post-war period, Nauru was administered by Australia as a UN Trust Territory.

Independence

On January 31, 1968 Nauru became the world's smallest independent republic. Phosphate rights were acquired from Britain in 1970 and the Nauru Phosphate Corporation was established. Money gained from the exploitation of phosphate was put into the Nauru Phosphate Royalties Trust and gave Nauruans the second highest GDP Per Capita (second only to the United Arab Emirates) and one of the hightest standards of living in the world.

Modern-day Nauru

By the close of the twentieth century, the phosphate supplies were fast running out. Nauru finally joined the UN in 1999.

As its phosphate stores began to run out (by 2006, its reserves were exhausted), the island was reduced to an environmental wasteland. Nauru appealed to the International Court of Justice to compensate for the damage from almost a century of phosphate strip-mining by foreign companies. In 1993, Australia offered Nauru an out-of-court settlement of 2.5 million Australian dollars annually for 20 years. New Zealand and the UK additionally agreed to pay a one-time settlement of $12 million each. Declining phosphate prices, the high cost of maintaining an international airline, and the government's financial mismanagement combined to make the economy collapse in the late 1990s. By the millennium Nauru was virtually bankrupt.

In 2000, the G7 nations put pressure on the country to review its banking system, which is used by Russian criminals for money laundering.

In 2001, Nauru was brought to world attention by the saga of the MV Tampa, a Norwegian cargo ship at the centre of a diplomatic dispute between Australia, Norway and Indonesia. The ship carried asylum seekers, hailing primarily from Afghanistan, who were rescued while attempting to reach Australia. After much debate many of the immigrants were transported to Nauru, an arrangement known in Australia as the "Pacific Solution". Shortly thereafter, the Nauruan government closed its borders to most international visitors, preventing outside observers from monitoring the refugees' condition.

In December of 2003, several dozen of these refugees, in protest of the conditions of their detention on Nauru, began a hunger strike. The hunger strike was concluded in early January 2004 when an Australian medical team agreed to visit the island. Since then, according to recent reports, all but two of the refugees have been allowed into Australia.

During 2002 Nauru severed diplomatic recognition with Taiwan (Republic of China) and signed an agreement to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. This move followed China's promise to provide more than U.S. $130 million in aid. In 2004, Nauru broke off relations with the PRC and re-established them with the ROC.

Nauru was also approached by the U.S. with a deal to modernize Nauru's infrastructure in exchange for suppression of the island's lax banking laws that allow activities that are illegal in other countries to flourish. Under this deal, allegedly, Nauru would also establish an embassy in China and perform certain "safehouse" and courier services for the U.S. government, in a scheme codenamed "Operation Weasel". Nauru agreed to the deal and instituted banking reform, but the U.S. later denied knowledge of the deal. The matter is being pursued in an Australian court, and initial judgments have been in favor of Nauru.

The government is desperately in need of money to pay off salary arrears of civil servants and to continue funding the welfare state built up in the heyday of phosphate mining (Nauruans pay no taxes).Fact|date=February 2007 Nauru has yet to develop a plan to remove the innumerable coral pinnacles created by mining and make those lands suitable for human habitation.Fact|date=February 2007

ee also

* Angam Day
* Nauru Phosphate Corporation
* Nauru Phosphate Royalties Trust

Notes and references

*

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1134774.stm Timeline] BBC News
* [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/16447.htm U.S. State Department Background Note: Nauru]
* [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-P-Gilberts/ United States Army in World War II - The War in the Pacific - Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls]