"Nauru is a tiny island all lone in the middle of the Pacific. Today let them know they're not completely forgotten."
So the official website of Nauru doesn't have any mailing addresses, so I couldn't find a way to send them anything and the contact emails hadn't been updated since 2007 so that was out. I figured I could at least learn a little about this place so that they won't be forgotten.
Formerly known as Pleasant Island, Nauru is a small Micronesian island in the south pacific. It's nearest neighbor Banaba Island in Kiribati, 300 kilometers to the east. Nauru is the world's smallest republic, covering just 21 square kilometers. With just over 9,265 residents, it is the second least-populated country after Vatican City.
Nauru was first inhabited by Micronesian and Polynesian people at least 3,000 years ago. There were traditionally 12 clans or tribes on Nauru, which are represented in the 12-pointed star in the flag of the country. Nauruans traced their descent matrilineally. Nauruans practiced aquaculture – they caught juvenile ibija fish, acclimatised them to fresh water, and raised them in the Buada Lagoon, providing an additional and more reliable source of food. The other locally grown components of their diet included coconuts and pandanus fruit.
Nauru is a republic with a parliamentary system of government. The president is both the head of state and of government. An 18-member unicameral parliament is elected every three years. The parliament elects a President from its members, and the President appoints a cabinet of five to six members. Nauru does not have any formal structure for political parties. Candidates typically stand for office as independents. Fifteen of the 18 members of the current Parliament are independents, and alliances within the government are often formed on the basis of extended family ties. Three parties that have sometimes been active in Nauruan politics are the Democratic Party, Nauru First, and the Centre Party.
Australian rules football is the most popular sport in Nauru. There is a football league with seven teams. All games are played at the Linkbelt Oval, one of only two stadiums in Nauru. Other sports popular in Nauru include volleyball, netball, weightlifting, fishing and tennis. Nauru participates in the Commonwealth Games and the Summer Olympic Games, where team members have been somewhat successful in weightlifting. Marcus Stephen has been a medalist, and he was elected to Parliament in 2003, and was elected as President of Nauru in 2007.
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