Breaking With the Past: One of the World’s Smallest Countries Changes Its Name
The Pacific island nation formerly known as Nauru has adopted its traditional name, the Republic of Naoero, to reflect its language, heritage and national identity.
Nauru, the small Pacific island nation, has officially changed its name to the Republic of Naoero, adopting the spelling and pronunciation used in its national language.
President David Adeang said the change was intended to recognise the country’s heritage, language and identity more faithfully.
The traditional name, pronounced “Now-ero”, had long been used locally and appears on national symbols, but the country became known internationally as Nauru because foreign speakers struggled to pronounce the original name.
The change was approved by Parliament and did not proceed to a public referendum.
The government said Naoero was not a new name seeking acceptance, but the established identity of the country and its people.
The international country code will change from NRU to NRO, while citizens will be known as dei-Naoero rather than Nauruans.
Government institutions, national assets and official international references are expected to adopt the new name over time.
Adeang first proposed the change to Parliament in January, saying it would honour the country’s heritage more accurately.
He later described the decision as a revival of national pride.
The Republic of Naoero has a population of about 12,000 and is the world’s third-smallest country by population, after Vatican City and Tuvalu.
It is also the world’s smallest independent republic.
The island was colonised by Germany in the nineteenth century and later came under Australian administration after the First World War.
It gained independence in 1968. Its history has also been shaped by phosphate mining, which once brought exceptional wealth before the deposits were heavily depleted.
Naoero now faces a different long-term threat: rising sea levels and the effects of climate change.
Much of the population and key infrastructure are concentrated near the coast, and the government has launched a citizenship-by-investment programme intended to help fund climate resilience, housing, land rehabilitation and the relocation of people and essential facilities to higher ground.
Last month, the government also announced plans to open an embassy in Jerusalem in the coming months.
The decision followed an agreement between Naoero’s foreign minister and Israel’s foreign minister and builds on the country’s longstanding diplomatic support for Israel.
The name change places Naoero alongside other countries that have adopted indigenous or pre-colonial names in recent years, including Eswatini, which changed its official name from Swaziland in 2018. For Naoero, the change is both administrative and symbolic: the country now wants the rest of the world to call it by the name its people have used for generations.
President David Adeang said the change was intended to recognise the country’s heritage, language and identity more faithfully.
The traditional name, pronounced “Now-ero”, had long been used locally and appears on national symbols, but the country became known internationally as Nauru because foreign speakers struggled to pronounce the original name.
The change was approved by Parliament and did not proceed to a public referendum.
The government said Naoero was not a new name seeking acceptance, but the established identity of the country and its people.
The international country code will change from NRU to NRO, while citizens will be known as dei-Naoero rather than Nauruans.
Government institutions, national assets and official international references are expected to adopt the new name over time.
Adeang first proposed the change to Parliament in January, saying it would honour the country’s heritage more accurately.
He later described the decision as a revival of national pride.
The Republic of Naoero has a population of about 12,000 and is the world’s third-smallest country by population, after Vatican City and Tuvalu.
It is also the world’s smallest independent republic.
The island was colonised by Germany in the nineteenth century and later came under Australian administration after the First World War.
It gained independence in 1968. Its history has also been shaped by phosphate mining, which once brought exceptional wealth before the deposits were heavily depleted.
Naoero now faces a different long-term threat: rising sea levels and the effects of climate change.
Much of the population and key infrastructure are concentrated near the coast, and the government has launched a citizenship-by-investment programme intended to help fund climate resilience, housing, land rehabilitation and the relocation of people and essential facilities to higher ground.
Last month, the government also announced plans to open an embassy in Jerusalem in the coming months.
The decision followed an agreement between Naoero’s foreign minister and Israel’s foreign minister and builds on the country’s longstanding diplomatic support for Israel.
The name change places Naoero alongside other countries that have adopted indigenous or pre-colonial names in recent years, including Eswatini, which changed its official name from Swaziland in 2018. For Naoero, the change is both administrative and symbolic: the country now wants the rest of the world to call it by the name its people have used for generations.
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