ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background and a description of major events in Nauru. It also provides basic political, economic, and social data arranged in the following categories: polity, economy, population, purchasing power parities, life expectancy, ethnic groups, capital, political rights, civil liberties, and status. The chapter discusses the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in Nauru. Nauru was one of three countries threatened with limited economic sanctions by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in June as part of a revised blacklist of countries deemed to be havens for money laundering. Citizens of Nauru can change their government democratically. Voting by secret ballot is compulsory for all citizens over the age of 20. The government has carried out fiscal austerity programs, which have drastically reduced budgets, and has been compelled to develop alternative industries, one of which is to make Nauru an offshore banking center.
