period of six month's full internal self-government, provided a resolution to this effect were passed in the Legislative Assembly. GOVERNMENT The General Election was held on 7th August 1967, when the Independence Party, under Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, was returned to power and a new constitution granting full internal self-government was introduced. The Independence motion was passed in the Mauritius Legislative Assembly on 22nd August 1967 and the island became independent on 12th March 1968. The Governor, Sir John Rennie, became the first Governor-General. A coalition Government was formed on 2nd December 1969 between the Labour Party, The Muslim Committee of Action and the Parti Mauricien Social Democrate. GOVERNOR-GENERAL Sir Leonard Williams, GCMG CABINET Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Internal Security, Minister of Information and Minister of Housing, Lands, Town and Country Planning: Minister of External Affairs, Tourism and Emigration: The Hon. C. G. Duval Minister of Labour: The Hon. H. Walter Minister of Works: The Hon. A. M. Osman Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs: The Hon. R. Jomadar Minister of Commerce and Industry: The Hon. M. G. Marchand Minister of State (Agriculture): The Hon. H. Ramnarain, OBE LEGISLATIVE Assembly Speaker: The Hon. Sir Harilall R. Vaghjee Clerk: G. T. d'Espaignet T REPUBLIC OF NAURU The Republic of Nauru consists of a single island of approximately 8.2 square miles lying 26 miles south of the equator at 0° 32' S. and 165° 55' E. Nauru's nearest neighbour, 190 miles to the east, is Ocean Island, a part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony. The island is 2,500 miles from Sydney, 2,600 miles from Honolulu, and 3,000 miles from Tokyo. Approximately oval and about 12 miles in circumference, the island is surrounded by a coral reef, which is exposed at low tide, and by a sandy beach from which the ground rises forming a fertile belt between 150 and 300 yards wide encircling the island. Inland coral cliffs rise to a height of up to 100 feet and merge with the central plateau, the highest point of which is 213 feet above sea level. The plateau is largely composed of phosphate rock and, where this has been removed, there is a rugged terrain of coral pinnacles up to 50 feet high. The climate is tropical but is tempered by sea breezes. Average annual rainfall since 1950 has been 81 inches but there have been marked deviations from this average; as many as 180 inches and as few as 12 inches have been recorded since 1940. The only fertile areas are the narrow coastal belt where coconut palms and pandanus trees grow and the land surrounding Buada lagoon where bananas, pineapples and some vegetables are grown. Erratic rainfall and the highly porous nature of the soil severely restrict cultivation and local requirements of fruit and vegetables are mostly met by imports from Australia and New Zealand. Some sparse secondary vegetation grows over the coral pinnacles left by the removal of phosphate. There are few indigenous animals and birdlife is not plentiful. At times fish are abundant in the deep waters surrounding the island. The Nauruan people are mainly of mixed Polynesian, Micronesian and Melanesian origin but are most closely related to the Polynesians. Their origin is uncertain and the Nauruan language provides no information about the origin of the people. English is used freely by educated (and is understood by all) Nauruans. Of the population of 6,516 on 30th June 1969, 3,212 were temporary immigrants, recruited to work on the phosphate deposits and in the Public Service and their dependants. Of these some 822 were Chinese, 1,824 Gilbert and Ellice Islanders and 566 Europeans. ECONOMY The economy of Nauru is wholly bound up with the extraction of phosphate from what is one of the world's richest deposits (averaging 37% to 37.5% phosphorous pentoxide (P2O5) with few impurities). 3,658 of the island's 5,263 acres are classified as phosphate bearing and represent a total of more than 90 million tons. A further area of 585 acres of rocky land is estimated to contain a further million tons. In 1968 1,578 acres had been mined and 41,510,000 tons of phosphate had been raised. It was estimated that some 56 million tons of phosphate remained to be worked, representing a life-span for the deposits of less than 30 years at the present rate of extraction. The Nauru Phosphate Corporation was established to run the industry from 1st July 1970. The phosphate industry provided employment in June 1969 for 60 Nauruans, 755 Gilbert and Ellice Islanders, 466 Chinese and 148 Europeans. The majority of Nauruans not employed in the phosphate industry are employed by the Government or by the Nauru Local Government and the Nauru Cooperative Society. HISTORY The first European to visit Nauru was Captain John Fearn of the whaling ship Hunter in 1798. He called it Pleasant Island and noted that it was “extremely populous" with "houses in great numbers". During the 19th century various traders, beachcombers, etc., established themselves on the island without it coming under the formal control of any of the European powers. By the AngloGerman Convention of 1886 the island was allocated to the German sphere of interest and reverted to its native name of Nauru. German occupation began on 1st October 1888 when the gunboat Eber arrived carrying a German Commissioner, whose initial task was the restoration of peace between the twelve tribes living on the island. The earlier arrival of firearms and alcohol had upset the balance between the tribes and precipitated a ten years war which reduced the population from about 1,400 in 1842 to little over 900 in 1888. Apart from banning alcohol and restoring order the Germans did little to foster the development of Nauru until after the arrival of missionaries in 1899 who introduced Christianity as well as education. During World War I the Germans surrendered Nauru to an Australian Expeditionary Force on 6th November 1914 and the island passed under British administration. The Germans formally renounced their title to Nauru by the Treaty at Versailles in 1919 and in 1920 Nauru became a British mandated territory under the League of Nations. Although Britain, Australia and New Zealand accepted the Trustee Mandate jointly, the administration of the island was conducted on their behalf by Australia. The three Governments established the British Phosphate Commissioners, which bought out the existing Pacific Phosphate Company and ran the industry. Nauru was extensively damaged in World War II. While the allies still controlled the island in 1940, it was damaged by German naval gunfire and, following the Japanese occupation, the allies bombed the airfield. 1,200 Nauruans were deported by the Japanese to Truk in the Carolines where 463 died of starvation, disease, bombing and brutality. Only 591 Nauruans remained on Nauru when the Japanese surrendered on 13th September 1945 and the 737 survivors from Truk were returned to Nauru on 31st January 1946, which is remembered in Nauru as the 'Day of Deliverance'. On 1st November 1947 the General Assembly of the United Nations approved a Trusteeship Agreement for the Territory of Nauru submitted by the Governments of Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom on the same lines as the Mandate under the League of Nations. CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT The first elections to be held on Nauru took place on 15th December 1951 for the Nauru Local Government Council, which elected Timothy Detudamo as Head Chief. The Council was, however, advisory only and in 1953 the United Nations Mission to the territory pressed for Nauru to have increased selfgovernment. In the period from 1951 until 1964 discussion of Nauru's future centred on the possibility of resettling the island's population on another island, whose economic future would not be clouded by the eventual exhaustion of the phosphate deposits. Many locations, including sites on the Australian mainland near Brisbane and Sydney, Prince of Wales Island and Fraser Island off Maryborough in Queensland, and, later, Curtis Island in Gladstone Harbour, were discussed as sites for possible resettlement. The proposal was abandoned in 1964 because the Nauruans under the leadership of Hammer DeRoburt, who had been elected Head Chief in 1955, were unhappy about a solution under which they did not retain some measure of sovereignty. After 1964 discussions of Nauru's future were closely bound up with the Nauruan efforts to gain control of the phosphate extraction industry. In June 1967 the British, Australian and New Zealand Governments reached agreement in principle with the Nauruans for the sale to Nauru of the assets of the British Phosphate Commissioners. The details were subsequently incorporated in the Nauru Island Industry Agreement, 1967, which provided for payment over the three years ending June 1970. The price was later agreed at about $A21 million, which was paid by April 1969. Earlier, in December 1965, the Australian Parliament passed legislation establishing the Nauru Legislative Council, the first for which were held on 25th January 1966 and whose first session was held on the 20th anniversary of Nauru's Day of Deliverance from Japanese Occupation, 31st January 1966. In October 1967 Agreement was reached for Nauru to become an independent Republic on 31st January 1968. A Parliament of 18 members was elected and Hammer De Roburt was elected the Republic's First President in May 1968 for a term of three years. The U.N. General Assembly agreed to terminate the Trusteeship Agreement the same day. Nauru has not applied for membership of the United Nations. NAURU AND THE COMMONWEALTH In November 1968, in response to a request by the Government of Nauru, Commonwealth Heads of Government agreed that Nauru should be accorded the status of a special member of the Commonwealth. This "special membership" was devised in close consultation with the Government of Nauru; under it Nauru has the right to participate in all functional meetings and activities of the Commonwealth and is eligible for Commonwealth technical assistance. Nauru does not participate in meetings of Commonwealth Heads of Government. Nauru is a member of the South Pacific Commission, the Universal Postal Union and the International Telecommunications Union. GOVERNMENT (CABINET) President, Minister of External Affairs and Minister of Industry and Island Development: H. E. Hammer De Roburt, OBE, MP Minister of Finance: The Hon. J. A. Bop, MP Minister of Justice: The Hon. J. Detsimea Audoa, MP Minister of Health and Education: The Hon. A. Bernicke, MP Minister of Works and Community Services: The Hon. R. B. Detudamo, MP GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS CHIEF SECRETARY'S DEPARTMENT Acting Chief Secretary: D. J. Dowdall DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE Secretary: D. A. Ferrier DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRY AND Acting Secretary: Lagumot Harris DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Secretary: D. J. Dowdall DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND EDUCATION Secretary: J. R. Ayres DEPARTMENT OF WORKS Secretary: T. E. Spencer DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION Overseas REPRESENTATION Acting Nauru representative to Australia and T NEW REPRESENTATION IN NAURU Australia (Permanent Representative): ZEALAND AND ISLAND TERRITORIES He boundaries of New Zealand were defined in 1863 as lying between 33° and 53° S. latitude and 162° E. and 173° W. longitude. New Zealand therefore consisted of the North Island and the South Island together with the For further information about New Zealand, see New Zealand Official Year Book smaller and sparsely-populated Stewart Island, which lies south of the South Island. The boundaries included the Chatham and Pitt Islands, some 467 miles east of Christchurch, and the Auckland Islands, which are south of the South Island. Other islands lying within this group were Three Kings Islands, Great Barrier Island, Solander Island, The Snares, Campbell Island, Bounty Island and the Antipodes Islands. The North Island, the South Island and Stewart Island extend over a distance of 1,100 miles. By Proclamation dated 21st July 1887 the group of islands called the Kermadec Islands, lying between 29° and 32° S. latitude and 177° and 180° W. longitude, were annexed to New Zealand. The principal islands are Raoul Island or Sunday Island, and Macauley Island. The other islands are Curtis Island and L'Esperance Rock. Raoul Island, comprising an area of 11 square miles, rises to a height of 1,723 feet and is covered with forest. The coasts of the Ross Sea and adjacent islands, south of 60° S. latitude and between 160° E. and 150° W. longitude, were brought within the jurisdiction of New Zealand by Order in Council on 30th July 1923.* Niue (Savage) Island, 170° 20′ W., 19° S., was discovered by Captain Cook in 1774. The island became a British Protectorate in 1900 and was annexed to New Zealand in 1901. It is administered under the supervision of the New Zealand Department of Maori and Island Affairs. The Tokelau Islands (formerly Union Islands), lying between 8° and 10° S. latitude and 170° and 173° W. longitude, became a British Protectorate in 1877. In 1916 the islands became part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony. In 1925 New Zealand assumed responsibility for the administration of the group, and in 1948 the Tokelau Islands were included within the boundaries of New Zealand. The total area of New Zealand, exclusive of the Island territories and the Ross Dependencies, is 103,736 square miles. Less than one quarter of the land surface lies below 650 feet. In the North Island the mountain system runs generally in a south-westerly direction parallel to the coast from East Cape to Turakirae Head. Approximately one-tenth of the surface is covered by the following mountain ranges: Raukumara, Huiarau, Ruahine, Tararua and Rimutaka. Except for the volcanic peaks Egmont (8,260 feet), Ruapehu (9,175 feet), Ngauruhoe (7,515 feet) and Tongariro (6,458 feet) the mountains do not exceed 6,000 feet. In the South Island the Southern Alps run almost the entire length of the island and include the Victoria Range (W. and N.W.), St Arnaud (N.), Richmond and the Kaikoura Range (N.W.). Mount Cook (12, 349 feet) is in the centre and 15 peaks are over 10,000 feet. There are numerous swift flowing rivers some of which are used to provide hydro-electricity but most of which, being obstructed at their mouths by bars, are useless for navigation. The main rivers in the North Island are the Waikato, the Wangaehu, the Wanganui, the Rangitikei and the Manawatu. In the South Island the rivers Waitaki, Cobb, Clutha, and Waipara support hydroelectric projects. Two other rivers of importance are the Buller and Rangitata. A scheme has been agreed to use the waters of Lake Manapouri in the extreme south to power an aluminium smelter at Bluff. There are numerous lakes, mostly at high altitude in remote and rugged country. These are important as reservoirs and for the prevention of flooding but are of little use for communication. The most important lakes are Lake Taupo (234 square miles) in the North Island and Lake Wakatipu (113 square miles) and Te Anau (133 square miles) in the South Island. The islands of New Zealand are part of the unstable circum-Pacific mobile *The Ross Dependency (q.v.). |