History of

Nauruans are believed to be a mixture of Micronesian, Polynesian, and Melanesian ancestry, but little is known of their history prior to their contact with Europeans. In 1798, a British vessel, The Hunter, became the first European ship to sight Nauru, which the captain dubbed Pleasant Island. Whalers and traders began arriving in the early 1800s. In 1878, civil war broke out among the island’s 12 tribes, who used guns acquired from the Europeans. German traders appealed to their government for protection, so German authorities intervened to end the hostilities. Germany then annexed Nauru as part of its Marshall Islands Protectorate in 1888.

In 1900, a geologist discovered the island’s vast deposits. A British company reached an agreement with Germany and began mining operations in 1906. Germany surrendered Nauru to Australian forces during World War I, after which administered the island under a joint trusteeship held by Australia, Britain, and New Zealand. Another company, the British Phosphate Commissioners (BPC), continued the lucrative phosphate mining.

Japan occupied Nauru during World War II, from 1942 to1945, and deported 1,200 Nauruans (about two-thirds of the population) to work as forced laborers in the Chuuk Islands(then known as Truk, now in the Federated States of ).There they endured starvation and bombings; fewer than750 laborers survived to return home after the war. In 1947,the United Nations returned Nauru to its prewar governance: an Australian administration under a joint trusteeship of Australia, Britain, and New Zealand.

Due in part to the mining’s environmental damage to the island, the trustee governments put forward a proposal in 1964to resettle Nauru’s population on Australian- owned Curtis Island. Nauruans rejected the plan and opted for independence, which was granted on 31 January 1968. The BPC sold its assets, and a company owned by the Nauruan government took over the mining operations. Although two-thirds of the phosphate had already been mined, huge earnings from the remaining reserves gave Nauru among the world’s highest GDPs per capita during the 1970s and ’80s. The government provided its citizens with free or heavily subsidized education, health care, utilities, and housing. To support the population once the phosphate was exhausted, a portion of the earnings also went into the Nauru Phosphate Royalties Trust (NPRT).

Unfortunately, Nauru’s economic fortunes dramaticallyreversed in the 1990s. Mining profits decreased as phosphate reserves ran out, and the government borrowed

Page 1 of 2 from the NPRT to cover its debts. Meanwhile, the NPRT suffered major losses due to corruption, mismanagement, and poor investments. By1993, the NPRT was declared nearly insolvent. Many Nauruans, frustrated at the loss of their phosphate wealth, took part in anti-government protests.

Forced to look elsewhere for revenue, Nauru entered the offshore banking industry and, since 2001, has accepted Australian aid as part of an agreement that allows Australia to process asylum seekers in a Nauruan detention center. However, these initiatives have done little to revitalize the economy. Infrastructure has deteriorated, and the delivery of public services has been sporadic. A climate of economic uncertainty is likely to continue until other revenue sources can be developed.

References:

“ of Nauru.” CultureGrams World Edition. 2008.

Page 2 of 2