Nauru Changes Name to Shed Colonial Legacy

On Tuesday (12/05), Nauru’s parliament approved the name change to “Naoero.” The government considers the name “Nauru” a remnant of the colonial era. Its pronunciation is also foreign, altering the local community’s native language.

The proposal came from President David Adeang, who submitted it in January. Now, a referendum is required to ratify the change.

Why change the name Nauru?

The country’s mother tongue is “Dorerin Naoero.” Besides English, this language is used by the majority of its population, numbering more than 10,000.

The government states that the name “Nauru” emerged because foreigners could not pronounce “Naoero” correctly.

“The name Nauru arose because Naoero could not be pronounced properly by foreign tongues. In the end, the name was changed to make it easier for them, not by our choice,” the government wrote in its statement.

President Adeang said this name change will better respect their cultural heritage, language, and national identity.

Nauru’s colonial history

Nauru is the world’s smallest island nation. Its area is only about 20 square kilometres.

From the late 1880s until the First World War, Nauru was under German control. The South Pacific island was then seized by Australian forces and jointly administered by Australia, Britain, and New Zealand before gaining independence in 1968.

The colonial powers exploited Nauru’s highly pure phosphate reserves for fertiliser. After independence, continued phosphate mining triggered an economic boom. However, the reserves are now nearly depleted, rendering much of the central island area barren and uninhabitable.