Nauru

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Country Name

Nauru, or officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island.

Location

It is an island country and microstate in Micronesia, a subregion of Oceania, in the Central Pacific.

Its nearest neighbor is Banaba Island in Kiribati, 300 km (190 mi) to the

east. It further lies northwest of Tuvalu, 1,300 km (810 mi), northeast of the Solomon Islands, east-northeast of Papua New Guinea, southeast of the Federated States of Micronesia, and south of the Marshall Islands.

Capital

Yaren.

There is no official capital for Nauru But the government offices are located in Yaren District.

Reason For Naming

The name "Nauru" may derive from the Nauruan word Anáoero, which means 'I go to the beach. In 1798, British sea captain John Fearn, on his trading ship Hunter (300 tons), became the first Westerner to report sighting Nauru, calling it "Pleasant Island", because of its attractive appearance.

Flag

The flag of Nauru was raised for the first time after gaining independence( from UN trusteeship, from the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand), The flag was adopted on independence day, 31 January 1968. The flag consists of a dark blue background, the background is crossed by a yellow stripe in the middle, and below the stripe and closer to the left part of the flag, there is a twelve-pointed white star is placed. The star represents the twelve tribes that used to inhabit the island, although two of them do not exist already. The yellow stripe represents the equator and the star depicts the position of the island against the equator. The blue color represents the Pacific Ocean, which surrounds the island. The design of the flag was chosen through a public competition, where a draft by an Australian designer won.