This distinction is important to understand, as there are some low islands, such as Makatea, Nauru, Niue and Banaba, which rise several hundred feet above sea level, while a number of " High Islands " ( those of volcanic origin ) can rise no more than a few feet above sea level, often classified as " rocks ".

Among coral tropic islands for example are Maldives, Tonga, Nauru and Polynesia.

The Germans ruled Nauru for almost three decades.

The Japanese troops built an airfield on Nauru which was bombed for the first time on 25 March 1943, preventing food supplies from being flown to Nauru.

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.

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 has yet to develop a plan to remove the innumerable coral pinnacles created by mining and make those lands suitable for human habitation.

The tiny equatorial island of Nauru has been inhabited for about 2, 000 years.

The infant mortality rate for Nauru was 10. 33 deaths for every 1000 live births, the birth rate is about 26. 09 births per 1, 000, and the overall population growth rate is 1. 9 percent.

The phosphate supply has virtually all been exhausted in recent years and as such, the future of the people of Nauru is uncertain, and the challenge for the country's policy makers will be to determine a path of continued economic prosperity, without the benefits of this resource.

The mining left an ecological and economic disaster for Nauru to handle when the country achieved independence in 1968.

Taiwan and Nauru had shared diplomatic ties for 22 years ; Taiwan has enjoyed diplomatic ties with several Pacific countries even in the face of the " One China policy " by Beijing.

By August 2004, a report by the Australian Center for Independent Studies suggested that Nauru might consider relinquishing its independent status in favor of becoming an Australian territory.

In anticipation of the exhaustion of its phosphate deposits, substantial amounts of the income from phosphates were invested in trust funds aimed to help cushion the transition and provide for Nauru ’ s economic future.

Phosphate ship for exporting in Nauru harbor

The advisory opinion was issued in response to a formal request made by the International Seabed Authority following two prior applications the Authority's Legal and Technical Commission had received from the Republics of Nauru and Tonga regarding proposed activities ( a plan of work to explore for polymetallic nodules ) to be undertaken in the Area by two State-sponsored contractors ( Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. ( sponsored by the Republic of Nauru ) and Tonga Offshore Mining Ltd. ( sponsored by the Kingdom of Tonga ).

* Nauru ( mostly for financial services, and banking )

Relations between Australia and Nauru were essentially framed by the Pacific Solution, whereby Nauru housed a detention centre for unauthorised refugee applicants who had attempted to enter Australia, and Australia provided financial aid in return.

The world's five smallest sovereign states: Vatican City, Monaco, Nauru, Tuvalu and San Marino, shown in the same scale for size comparison

The matter is being pursued in an Australian court, and initial judgments have been in favor of Nauru.

It also arguably represented a period when the Nauru electorate and their representatives were appearing to come to terms with being educated into the perceived need for economic austerity measures and the disciplines which coincided with them, and into a broader reflection on improvements in political culture.

Of the three, Nauru is least like Polynesia and Melanesia and for practical applications, Nauru is either assigned to Micronesia or designated as a separate entity ( with the former being the most common ).

She has expressed similar concern for the 83 Sri Lankan refugees that are being held in Nauru.

One notable issue being discussed was the possibility of making the office of President of Nauru directly elected by the population, instead of the office being indirectly elected by the Parliament of Nauru.

The ad-hoc nature in which the policy evolved was also criticised, as it resulted in people being moved to Manus Island and Nauru before facilities were ready.

Although similar deposits exist in Makatea and Nauru, Mataiva inhabitants and ecosystems protection activists have successfully prevented its exploitation for the time being.

Six years later, an Auckland-dwelling British sea captain named Frederick Moss came in his schooner, the Buster, landing on Nauru while his ship was being reloaded with copra.

Fearn became famous for being the first European to land on the Pacific island of Nauru, which is now a sovereign republic.

On 31 January 1968, following a two-year constitutional convention, Nauru became the world's smallest independent republic.

According to the president of Nauru, the Marshall Islands are the nation ranked as the most endangered due to flooding from climate change.

Nauru is a tiny phosphate rock island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean south of the Marshall Islands in Oceania.

Yaren, in earlier times Makwa / Moqua, is a district and constituency of the Pacific nation of Nauru.

Uaboe ( also known as Waboe ) is a district in the island nation of Nauru, located in the northwest of the island.

Anibare is a district in the island nation Nauru.

Anetan is a district in the Pacific island nation of Nauru.

Nibok is a district in the island nation of Nauru in the Micronesian South Pacific.

Baiti is a district in the Pacific nation of Nauru.

Buada is a district in the Pacific nation of Nauru.

The airline has been in dispute with the Export-Import Bank of the United States since 2002, and in December 2005 the High Court of Australia upheld an earlier decision to allow the bank to seize Air Nauru's only aircraft, registered VH-RON, leaving Nauru and the island nation Kiribati without air services.

King Aweida ( born in Boe, in 1850-died at Gabab channel in 1921 ) was a royal man in the Pacific nation of Nauru.

Nauru is an island nation in Micronesia.

Margaret Hendrie ( 1924 – 1990 ) was a writer from the Pacific nation of Nauru.

Russell Effaney Kun ( b. May 24, 1966 ) is a political figure from the Pacific nation of Nauru and former powerlifter.

HE Ruben James Kun ( born 30 March 1942 ) is a political figure from the Pacific nation of Nauru and was President of the Republic of Nauru.

The others are Banaba in Kiribati, and the island nation of Nauru.

HE Lagumot Gagiemem Nimidere Harris ( c. 1938-6 September 1999 ) was a political figure from the Pacific nation of the Republic of Nauru, and served as President of the Republic of Nauru.

The boats sailed to Nauru, a Pacific island nation which is host to Australia's offshore immigrant detention centre.

Joanne Ekamdeiya Gobure ( b. April 26, 1982, in Nauru ) is a poet from the Pacific nation of Nauru.

The Pacific island nation Nauru ( NRU ) competed at the Summer Olympic Games first in the 1996 games in Atlanta.

The nation is mainly known for its weightlifting tradition and all seven athletes that have competed for Nauru at the Olympics have been weightlifters.