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Nauru
 
[German Empire 1870-1919 (Germany)]
              21 Oct 1887 - 4 Aug 1914
 
[Flag of the United Kingdom]
                      4 Aug 1914 - Jun 1921 
 
[Australian flag]
   Jun 1921 - 26 Aug 1942; 13 Sep 1945 - 31 Jan 1968 
 
[Japan]
           26 Aug 1942 - 13 Sep 1945
 
[Nauru]
                        Adopted 31 Jan 1968
 

Map of Nauru
Hear National Anthem
"Nauru Bwiema"
(Song of Nauru)
Text of National Anthem
Adopted 1968
Constitution
(29 Jan 1968)
Capital: no official capital;
government offices
in Yaren District
Currency: Australian Dollar
(AUD) 
National Holiday: 31 Jan (1968)
Independence Day
Population: 13,528 (2007)
GDP: $60 million (2005)
Exports: $640,000 (2004)
Imports: $19.8 million (2004)
Ethnic groups: Nauruan 68.9%, other Pacific
Islander 23.7% (of which Kiribati 12.8%, Tuvaluan 8.7%),
Asian 5.9% (of which Filipino 2.5%, Chinese 2.3%),
other 1.5% (1992)
Total Police Force: 67 (1998)
Informal agreement, defense assured by Australia
Merchant marine: None (2006) 
Religions: Protestant 53.5% (of which Congregationalist 35.3%,
 Pentecostal 4.8%, other Protestant 13.4%), Roman
Catholic 27.5%,other 19% (1995) 
International Organizations/Treaties: ACP, ADB, APM, C (special member), CTBT, FAO, ICAO, ICCt, Interpol, IOC, ITU, KP, NPT, OPCW, PC, PIF, UN, UNCLOS, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFCC, UPU, WHO 
Nauru
Chronology

 8 Nov 1798                Discovered by British Capt. John Fearn, named 
                             Pleasant Island.
1878 - 1888                Civil war among the 12 traditional clans.
21 Oct 1887                German protectorate (Nauru).
14 Apr 1888                Part of (German) Marshall Islands.
 1 Apr 1906                Part of German New Guinea (see Papua New Guinea).
 4 Aug 1914                Australian naval forces remove German officials
                             and a German radio post, then depart.
 7 Sep 1914                Australian occupation.
Sep 1914 - Jun 1921        Part of the British Western Pacific Territories.
17 Dec 1920                League of Nations mandate (to Australia, 
                             New Zealand, and United Kingdom; actual 
                             administration by Australia).
26 Aug 1942 - 13 Sep 1945  Japanese occupation.
 1 Nov 1947                United Nations trust territory (to Australia, 
                             New Zealand, and United Kingdom; actual
                             administration by Australia).
31 Jan 1968                Independence (Republic of Nauru).

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Head Chiefs (styled 'Kings' by Europeans)
18.. - 1878?               Auweyida (1st time)                (b. 18.. - d. c.1920)
                            (deposed during the civil war;
                             mentioned as no longer ruling in 1881) 
1878? - 1888               ....
1888 - c.1920              Auweyida (2nd time)                (s.a.) 
Reichskommissare (imperial commissioners)
1886 - 1887                Wilhelm Knappe                     (b. 1855 - d. 1910)
1888 - 1889                Franz Leopold Sonnenschein         (b. 1857 - d. 1897)
District officers
 2 Oct 1888 - May 1889     Robert Rasch (acting)
May 1889 - 1895            Christian Johannson
1895 - 1898                Fritz Jung
1899 - 1906                Ludwig Kaiser                      (b. 1862 - d. 1906)
Station Chiefs (Stationsleiter)
(from 1911, subordinated to administrators of Ponape district)
1906 - 1908                Konrad Geppert                     (d. 1908) 
1908 - 1911                Joseph Siegwanz
1911 - 1912                Warnecke
1912 -  6 Nov 1914         Wilhelm Wostrack
Australian Commanders
 7 Sep 1914 -  6 Nov 1914  William Holmes                     (b. 1862 - d. 1917)
 6 Nov 1914 - 1914         E.C. Norrie 
Administrators
25 Dec 1914  - 1917        Charles Rufus Marshall Workman     (b. 1874 - d. 1942)
1917 - 1921                Geoffrey Whistler Bingham          (b. 1878? - d. 1927)
                             Smith-Rewse
Jun 1921 - Jun 1927        Thomas Griffiths                   (b. 1865 - d. 1947)
Jun 1927 - 1933            William Augustus Newman
Jan 1933 - Nov 1938        Rupert Clare Garsia                (b. 1887 - d. 1954)
Nov 1938 - 26 Aug 1942     Frederick Roydon Chalmers          (b. 1881 - d. 1943)
26 Aug 1942 - 25 Jun 1943  .... (Japanese commanders)
25 Jun 1943 - 13 Sep 1945  Hisayuka Soeda -Japanese commander
13 Sep 1945 -  1 Nov 1945  J.L.A. Kelly
 1 Nov 1945 - Aug 1949     Mark Ridgway                       (b. 1891 - d. 1984)
Aug 1949 - Nov 1949        Harold Hastings Reeve (acting)
Nov 1949 - Jan 1953        Robert Stanley Richards            (b. 1885 - d. 1967)
Jan 1953 - Dec 1953        John Keith Laurence (acting)
Dec 1953 - Jul 1954        K.A. Read (acting)
Jul 1954 - May 1958        Reginald Sylvester Leydin          (b. 1905)
                             (1st time)
May 1958 - Apr 1962        John Preston White                 (b. 1914)
1962 - Apr 1966            Reginald Sylvester Leydin          (s.a.)
                             (2nd time) 
Apr 1966 - 31 Jan 1968     Leslie Dudley King                 (b. 1909)
Chairman of the Constitutional Convention
31 Jan 1968                Hammer DeRoburt
                    (b. 1922 - d. 1992)
Chairman of the Council of State
31 Jan 1968 - 18 May 1968  Hammer DeRoburt                    (s.a.)
Presidents
18 May 1968 - 22 Dec 1976  Hammer DeRoburt (1st time)         (s.a.)
22 Dec 1976 - 19 Apr 1978  Bernard Annen Auwen Dowiyogo       (b. 1946 - d. 2003)  NP 
                             (1st time) 
19 Apr 1978 - 11 May 1978  Lagumot Gagiemem Nimidere Harris   (b. 1938? - d. 1999)
                             (1st time) 
11 May 1978 - 17 Sep 1986  Hammer DeRoburt (2nd time)         (s.a.)
17 Sep 1986 -  1 Oct 1986  Kennan Ranibok Adeang (1st time)   (b. 1942?)           DP
 1 Oct 1986 - 12 Dec 1986  Hammer DeRoburt (3rd time)         (s.a.)
12 Dec 1986 - 22 Dec 1986  Kennan Ranibok Adeang (2nd time)   (s.a.)               DP
22 Dec 1986 - 17 Aug 1989  Hammer DeRoburt (4th time)         (s.a.)
17 Aug 1989 - 12 Dec 1989  Kenas Aroi
12 Dec 1989 - 22 Nov 1995  Bernard Annen Auwen Dowiyogo       (s.a.)               NP
                             (2nd time) 
22 Nov 1995 - 12 Nov 1996  Lagumot Gagiemem Nimidere Harris   (s.a.)
                             (2nd time) 
12 Nov 1996 - 26 Nov 1996  Bernard Annen Auwen Dowiyogo       (s.a.)               NP
                             (3rd time) 
26 Nov 1996 - 19 Dec 1996  Kennan Ranibok Adeang (3rd time)   (s.a.)               DP
19 Dec 1996 - 13 Feb 1997  Rueben James Kun
13 Feb 1997 - 18 Jun 1998  Kinza Godfrey Clodumar             (b. 1945)
18 Jun 1998 - 27 Apr 1999  Bernard Annen Auwen Dowiyogo       (s.a.)               NP
                             (4th time) 
27 Apr 1999 - 20 Apr 2000  René Reynaldo Harris (1st time)    (b. 1947)
20 Apr 2000 - 30 Mar 2001  Bernard Annen Auwen Dowiyogo       (s.a.)               NP
                             (5th time) 
30 Mar 2001 -  9 Jan 2003  René Reynaldo Harris (2nd time)    (s.a.)
 9 Jan 2003 - 17 Jan 2003  Bernard Annen Auwen Dowiyogo       (s.a.)               NP
                             (6th time) 
17 Jan 2003 - 18 Jan 2003  René Reynaldo Harris (3rd time)    (s.a.) 
18 Jan 2003 - 10 Mar 2003  Bernard Annen Auwen Dowiyogo       (s.a.)               NP
                             (7th time) 
10 Mar 2003 - 29 May 2003  Derog Gioura                       (b. 1931?)
                             (acting to 20 Mar 2003)
29 May 2003 -  8 Aug 2003  Ludwig Derangadage Scotty          (b. 1948)
                             (1st time)
 8 Aug 2003 - 22 Jun 2004  René Harris (4th time)             (s.a.)
22 Jun 2004 - 19 Dec 2007  Ludwig Derangadage Scotty          (s.a.)
                             (1st time)
19 Dec 2007 -              Marcus Stephen                     (b. 1969)


Head Chiefs of the Council of Chiefs
1927 - 1931                Daimon
1931 - 30 Jun 1943         Timothy Detudamo (1st time)        (d. 1953)
                             (1942 - 30 Jun 1943 "Governor of the Nauruans";
                             in Truk, Micronesia exile 30 Jun 1943 - 31 Jan 1945)
31 Jan 1946 - 18 Dec 1951  Timothy Detudamo (2nd time)        (s.a.)
Head Chiefs of the Local Government Council
18 Dec 1951 - Apr 1953     Timothy Detudamo                   (s.a.)
1953 - Dec 1955            Raymond Gadabu
Dec 1955 - 31 Jan 1968     Hammer DeRoburt                    (s.a.)

Party abbreviations: DP = Democratic Party (est.1987); NFP = Nauru First Party; NP = Nauru Party (informal)




©2000  Ben Cahoon