Nauru

Understand

History In the local language the island is known as Naoero, though the name is of unknown origin. Nauru is a simplification of the name by British colonisers. The island has also been known by the names Pleasant Island, Nawodo, and Onawero. Nauru was first settled around 3,000 years ago by twelve Micronesian and Polynesian peoples. Those twelve tribes divided the island into twelve parts; today this is symbolised by the twelve-pointed star in Nauru's national flag (the yellow line represents the Equator and the blue space the Pacific Ocean). The original inhabitants lived on fishing and even turned the lagoon in the middle of the island into a fish farm. The first European to set foot on the island was the British commander John Fearn in 1798. The natives had a good relationship with the European ships whom they traded with. Occasionally, deserting sailors settled on Nauru. The island was devastated by a civil war between 1878 and 1888, after which it was annexed by the Germans. During the three-decade period as part of the German Pacific Territory, a king was appointed to rule the island, and the first missionaries arrived.

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. Briefly occupied by Japan during World War II, Nauru was recovered by Australia afterwards and achieved independence in 1968. In the 1980s, phosphate exports briefly gave Nauruans one of the highest per capita incomes in the World. As of 2008, most of Nauru's revenue came from the export of phosphate to Australia, South Korea and New Zealand as well as other countries. The industry is controlled by the Nauru Phosphate Corporation (NPC). It is anticipated that the phosphate reserves will be completely exhausted before 2050. The sale of fishing licences is the other major revenue earner. Another sourc

Getting there

The Australian offshore detention centre operating on the island means that there are always a lot of Australian government staff staying at the island's two small hotels and filling seats on the flights to and from Nauru (especially the direct flight to and from Brisbane). This, in combination with the visa requirement, means that you probably should plan and book your trip a few months ahead.

Entry requirements

All foreign visitors require a valid passport and proof of hotel booking or local sponsor in order to enter Nauru. A free visa on arrival is available to citizens of the Cook Islands, Fiji, Israel, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Citizens of other countries require an advance visa. You can apply for a visa from:

Nauruan visitors office, ☏ +674 5573133. (updated Apr 2015) The Nauruan Press Office at the United Nations, ☏ +1 212 937 0074. (updated Jan 2024) Alternatively you can send to [email protected] or [email protected]. It may take a long time for the visa application to be processed, so you should send your application well ahead of your intended trip. A tourist visa reportedly costs $100 (all prices in Australian dollars). If you are a journalist and intend to work on Nauru you will need a journalist visa, costing $200, although if you are going to report about the Australian detention centre on the island you might need to fork out $8000. Applications for journalist visas should be directed to: Joanna Olsson, Director of Government Information Office: [email protected]. You will be sent a card that you need to fill in and return together with a copy of your passport. The visa fee is paid upon arrival in Nauru. At this time you will have to hand in your passport to the officials to be registered. The passport will be returned to you the next day. If you're transiting through the American territories (e.g. Guam) on

Getting around

Every year, there are on average 200 tourists in Nauru, so it has the honour of being the least touristed country in the world. Crowds aren't a problem at all. There's hardly any public transportation, so your best bet to get around would be in a rented vehicle; car, scooter or bike. Other alternatives are by foot (not very pleasant in the tropical heat and humidity) or hitchhiking, which is quite common on the island.

By public transport There is a community or island bus which travels around the island every hour or so during the day. It costs 50 cents per trip around the island. Also, locals sometimes cling to the cars of the goods train between Aiwo and the inland mining area.

By car Nauru is so small that it takes less than one hour to drive right around it. The 19-km Island Ring Road circles the island and is paved — however this is not the case for most of the inland roads. The airport taxiway cuts across three of the twenty kilometres of road. The only traffic lights on the island are used to stop the traffic and allow the plane to cross the road to the terminal! This is a favourite souvenir snapshot taken by visitors. Traffic drives on the left, and drivers should be on increased lookout for animals and pedestrians while driving on the beltway. Cars or bicycles can sometimes be rented from Capelle and Partners, the largest local supermarket. Otherwise you can ask at your hotel or just ask a local. Foreigners need an international driver's licence to drive on Nauru. Fuel shortages are not unheard of.

See

The Nauru experience is pretty much the exact opposite of all the typical South Pacific island clichés. If you're looking for sandy beaches, cool ocean breezes, and pristine blue waters, you'll find precious little of the sort. In fact, if you're looking for pretty much anything that can be described as flashy or tourist-oriented, you're out of luck. But don't write Nauru off just yet: its subtle and offbeat charms are waiting for anyone who's willing to take the time to seek them out — and that goes double for World War II history buffs, urbexers, and anyone who's just looking for a slow-paced, low-key, off-the-beaten-path getaway.

2 Anibare Bay, Anibare district (along the Ring Road). Anibare Bay is the sole exception to the rule cited above about the absence of the classic Polynesian "sandy beaches, cool ocean breezes, and pristine blue waters" experience on Nauru. Here you'll find a fine stretch of white sand surrounded by palm groves, deep and clean enough for proper swimming (among a fantasyland of beautiful coral pinnacles, no less). Anibare is also a great place for seeing the sunrise; at 166°E longitude, Nauru is among the first countries in the world to see a new day. The smaller of Nauru's two ports, 1 Anibare Harbour is at the southern end of the bay. Constructed in the early 2000s with Japanese capital, you can watch local fishermen bring their catch to land here. 3 Aiwo Harbour, Aiwo district (along the Ring Road). The