Nauru, Oceania.
Nauru, a former German protectorate in the Pacific, should be renamed “Naoero”. The change was approved by the local parliament and must be confirmed in a referendum.
With an area practically equal in size to Espinho, the small island country in Micronesia, Nauruin Oceania, is in the process of changing its official name. On Tuesday, the national Parliament approved a constitutional amendment to rename the country “Naoero”, according to the New Zealand broadcaster.
The measure is part of an effort by the government to disassociate itself from what it considers to be a remnant of its colonial past.
The nation must also hold a referendum to validate the government’s decision, which will only then be able to move forward with changing the Constitution. The responsible authorities have not yet announced the date of the public consultation.
The proposed amendment was first presented in January by President David Adeang.
Why change the name?
According to the government, the name “Nauru” came about because “Foreign languages” distorted the local language during the colonial period.
The country’s native language is “Dorerin Naoero”, spoken by the majority of its almost 10 thousand inhabitants, along with English.
“The name Nauru arose because Naoero could not be pronounced correctly by foreign speakers and was changed not by our choice, but for convenience,” the government said in a statement.
According to President Adeang, the change would “more faithfully represent” the national heritage, language and identity.
Nauru’s colonial past
Nauru, a country without an official capital — although Yaren is considered its administrative center — is the smallest island republic in the world, with only 21 square kilometers. It has its own national language, Nauruan.
From the late 1880s until the First World War, the territory was claimed by Germany as a protectorate. The island in the South Pacific was then occupied by Australian troops and began to be administered jointly by Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, until conquering independence in 1968 and become a member of the United Nations.
Colonial powers exploited the island’s high-purity phosphate deposits, used as fertilizer. Even after independence, mining continued and drove rapid economic growth. However, reserves were exhausted, leaving the interior of the country arid and practically uninhabitable.
