From the phosphate mines that ruined the country to the deep sea wildlife that surrounds the island, Nauru is the worlds smallest island nation, and there is still plenty to see.

Enjoy the random facts about Nauru and check out the resources that we recommend that would work well with the 193 Little Adventures Nauru pack.

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If you stick to the speed limit of 25km/h it will only take you 45 minutes to drive around the whole island. The main road is one big loop around the coast of the island.

Frigate birds (those ones with the big red pouch under their chin) are special to the people of Nauru. For centuries they have caught and trained them, originally a job of the male elders in the tribe. The art of catching and caring for the birds was almost lost when many Nauruans were displaced or died in the WWII but luckily a few elders were able to restore the tradition.

Originally there were twelve tribes in Nauru. Each with their own distinct clothing styles, weaving and dialect. Children are born into the same tribe as their mother. Two of the tribes, has no new female members born into them and so became extinct.

The most popular sport on Nauru is Australian Rules Football. there are 7 teams in the league and they play matches at Linkbelt Oval. Quite surprisingly, Nauru is also big on weight lifting, having won medals in the Commonwealth Games and competing in the Olympics.

Nauruan is spoken by the locals and is it's own distinct language. 

The Nauruan language originally had 17 letters, including five vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 12 consonants (b, d, g, j, k, m, n, p, q, r, t, w). Other letters like c, f, h, l, s, v, x, y, and z were not used. But with the influence of foreign languages like German, English, and Pama-Nyungan, more letters were added. They also used tilde to indicate sounds like umlauts.
In 1938, they wanted to make the language easier for Europeans and Americans to read, so they introduced some new diacritical symbols. They replaced umlauts with "ô" and "û" and "ã" with "e." They also added "y" and replaced "ñ" with "ng." Some of these reforms were only partly carried out, but today, the Nauruan language uses 30 Latin letters, including some of the ones that were introduced during the 1938 reform. 

In the 1970' and 1980's Nauru was for a time one of the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of gross domestic product per capita. When Nauru became an independent state in the late sixties, they took over the phosphate mines and landowners were paid royalties for the extracted phosphate.

Frigate birds (those ones with the big red pouch under their chin) are special to the people of Nauru. For centuries they have caught and trained them, originally a job of the male elders in the tribe. The art of catching and caring for the birds was almost lost when many Nauruans were displaced or died in the WWII but luckily a few elders were able to restore the tradition.

When the population dipped to a point that was critical for the survival of the population the government and nations elders came up with an idea to boost the population. The child that was born that bought the nations total to 1500 would have a national holiday created on their birthday. This is how Angram Day came about.

Due to the majority of the islands food being imported and a reliance on canned and frozen foods (with high sugar and salt contents) many of the islanders have a poor diet and suffer with obesity, diabetes and other diet related diseases. As this has been recognised as a problem, there are drives and initiatives to create healthier lifestyles.

Nauru is one of the 19 countries in the world that doesn't have any rivers. It does have a lagoon and an underwater lake though! 

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Marine Identification PDFs

One this page you will find several FREE marine identification PDFs to download.

• Tunas

• Billfish

• Sharks

• Other fish species

• Sea turtles

• Seabirds

• Toothed whales

• Dolphins 

• Damaged fish 

• Baitfish

Humpback Whale

A lovely book with stunning illustrations, with bite-sized facts, and clear labels make it easy for even the youngest of readers to enjoy. Written by Dr. Asha de Vos who is an award-winning Sri Lankan marine biologist.

Whales

Discover fascinating details about some of the largest and most magnificent marine creatures, including humpback whales, blue whales, and belugas, with this National Geographic Kids' early reader. This book is a comprehensive guide to whales from various parts of the globe, discussing their habitats, diets, survival mechanisms, and more.

For a quick tour around Nauru and some glances of what the place really looks like, this short travel video shows quite a lot.

How and why do whales sing?
Find out here in this short but informative video.

These are great addition to the bookshelf
no matter where in the world you are currently studying

Celebrations

This photographer and writer team travel the world meeting kids and learning about their festivals and celebrations. 

Children Just Like Me

Meet children from all over the world, learn about their everyday lives from rural farms to inner cities. 

Children's Illustrated Atlas

A fun world atlas with lots of illustrations and snippets of information that kids just have to keep dipping into.

The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid

A beautifully illustrated book that takes you from the crystal caves in Mexico to the Blood falls in Antarctica...

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