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 number". 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 to little over 900 in 1888 compared with the figure of 1,400 observed in 1843. Apart from banning alcohol and restoring order the Germans did little to foster the development of Nauru until after the arrival of the Reverend Delaporte, who initiated education alongside Christianity (which had been introduced a few years earlier).

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 of 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, the installations were 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 Mary

borough 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 Phosphate 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 elections 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. The UN General Assembly agreed to terminate the Trusteeship Agreement the same day. A Parliament of 18 members was elected and Hammer DeRoburt was elected the Republic's First President in May 1968 for a term of three years, and was re-elected in January 1971 and December 1973 for further terms of three years. Nauru has not applied for membership of the United Nations, but plays an active part in several United Nations agencies.

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.

HEAD OF STATE

President: H.E. Hammer DeRoburt, OBE, MP

GOVERNMENT (CABINET)

Minister for External Affairs, Minister for Internal Affairs, Minister for Island Development and Industry and Minister for Civil Aviation: H.E. Hammer DeRoburt, OBE, MP

Minister for Finance: The Hon. J. A. Bop, MP

Minister for Justice: The Hon. J. Detsimea Audoa, MP

Minister for Health and Education: The Hon. A. Bernicke, MP

Minister for Works and Community Services: The Hon. R. D. Detudamo, MP
Chief Justice: His Honour Mr Justice I. R. Thompson

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Nauru Consul-General in Australia (resides in Melbourne): Mr T. W. Star; Nauru Representative in the United Kingdom: Q. V. L. Weston, OBE; United States (Hon. Consul-General): Governor Skinner; United States, District of Hawaii (Hon. Consul): Mr K. Char; Japan (Consul): Mr T. C. Moses; Saipan (Representative): Mr E. Milne; Guam (Hon. Consul): Mr M. Pray; Hong Kong (Hon. Consul): Miss Miriam Su.

REPRESENTATION IN NAURU Australia: Australian High Commissioner, Mr A. L. Fogg; Japan: Japanese Ambassador to Australia, Mr Kenzo Yoshida (resides in Australia); United States: United States Ambassador to Australia, Mr Marshall Green (resides in Australia).

AND ISLAND TERRITORIES

AND SELF-GOVERNING COUNTRIES IN FREE ASSOCIATION

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WITH NEW ZEALAND

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 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, was 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.

For further information about New Zealand, see New Zealand Official Year Book

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. Niue achieved internal self-government in 1974. The Island remains in free association with New Zealand which retains responsibility for foreign affairs and defence.

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 hydro-electric station has been established at Lake Manapouri in the extreme south to power the 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 belt, a region where volcanoes are active and where the earth's crust has long been buckling and breaking at a geologically rapid rate of change. The Rotorua area of the North Island is world famous for its geo-thermal activities, boiling lakes, boiling mud, geysers, etc.

The climate is temperate and changeable, very similar to that in Britain except that winds are more frequent and there is a higher average sunshine. Normal temperatures range from 43.6°F in June to 61.3°F in January. The average rainfall for the greater part of the country is from 25-60 inches, but because of the mountain ranges can vary from as much as 300 inches to 13 inches.

There are 17.5 million hectares of occupied farmland, excluding forests, of

The Ross Dependency, see page 355.

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which 4.5 million hectares are tussock grassland and 8 million hectares are improved hill country. In June 1974 there were 2.1 million dairy cows in milk, 55.9 million sheep and 6.1 million beef cattle.

A census of population is taken every five years, the last being in March 1971. The most recent figure estimates that the population was 3,080,600 in September 1974.

About four-fifths of population growth is derived from natural increase and one-fifth from migration. In 1973 the birth rate was 20.39 per 1,000. The death rate was 8.05 per 1,000 in 1973.

English is the official language and used by all, but a large proportion of the Maori population of 243,000 are bi-lingual in English and Maori. Christianity is the main religion and the 1971 census showed the chief groups to be Church of England 31.3 per cent, Presbyterian 20-4 per cent, Roman Catholic 15.7 per cent and Methodist 6-4 per cent. Other denominations and sects include Ratana (Maori). Primary and secondary education is free and universal. University education is free to all holders of the University Entrance Examination and about one-tenth of pupils leaving Secondary Schools go to Universities. Technical institutes have also been established. There is no illiteracy.

The urban centres which have the main concentrations of population are in the North Island, Auckland (population 775,000), Wellington (346,900), Hamilton (147,500), Napier/Hastings (105,500), and Palmerston North (85,300); and in the South Island, Christchurch (320,500), Dunedin (120,000), and Invercargill (53,100).

Cargo statistics from the main ports for 1973 are: Whangarei 7,074,000 tons, Auckland 5,362,000, Tauranga 3,062,000, Napier 1,084,000, Wellington 4,728,000, Lyttleton (Christchurch) 2,064,000, Port Chalmers (Dunedin) 708,000, Bluff (Invercargill) 1,079,000.

The principal airports are Auckland International Airport at Mangere with 10,800 feet of runway, Christchurch with 8,014 feet and 5,700 feet and Wellington with 5,600 feet. Air New Zealand operates an international service and the National Airways Corporation provides a domestic service. In 1973 there were 57,170 miles of road, and 3,012 miles of 3 feet 6 inches gauge railway. The New Zealand Railways operate road/rail ferries between Wellington and Picton (in the South Island) and the Tasman/Union Company operates a car ferry between Wellington and Lyttelton, the port of Christchurch. The New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation provide radio and television coverage throughout the country.

The principal products and exports receipts for the year ending January 1975 were: wool ($325.2 million), meat ($529.8 million), butter ($108.7 million), cheese ($44.1 million), other dairy products ($168.8 million), other animal products ($130.1 million), forest products ($145.5 million) other primary products ($74.7 million). These returns accounted for 88 per cent of the country's total exports. New Zealand is one of the largest exporters in the world of meat, dairy produce and wool and is heavily dependent on the export of pastoral products. There are probably more farm animals in proportion to population than in any other country. The value of goods exported forms a much higher percentage, about 20 per cent, of the national product than for most countries. The Government plans to spend $1,677 million on power schemes over the next 10 years. One of these, a 600MW station at New Plymouth, will be in full operation in 1975 and will eventually use natural gas. A coal-fired 1,000MW

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