Nauru is an island nation in the Micronesian South Pacific. The nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in the Republic of Kiribati, 300 km due east. Nauru is the world's smallest island nation, covering just 21 km² (8.1 sq. mi), the smallest independent republic, and the only nation in the world without an official capital. Initially inhabited by Micronesian and Polynesian peoples, Nauru was annexed by Germany in the late 19th century, and became a mandate territory administered by Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom following World War I. The island was occupied by Japan during World War II, and after the war entered into trusteeship again. Nauru achieved independence in 1968. With the exhaustion of phosphate reserves, its environment severely degraded by mining, and the trust established to manage the island's wealth significantly reduced in value, the government of Nauru has resorted to unusual measures to obtain income. In the 1990s, Nauru briefly became a tax haven and since 2001 has accepted aid from the Australian government; in exchange for this aid, Nauru houses an 'offshore' detention centre that holds and processes asylum seekers trying to enter Australia.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nauru

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1497: Vasco da Gama set sail on the first direct European voyage to India. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_da_Gama)

1709: Great Northern War: At Poltava, Ukraine, Peter I of Russia defeated Charles XII of Sweden in the Battle of Poltava, effectively ending Sweden's role as a major power in Europe. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Poltava)

1776: The Liberty Bell was rung to summon citizens of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the reading of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Bell)

1889: The first issue of the Wall Street Journal was published. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_Journal)

1947: Newspapers in Roswell, New Mexico reported the capture of a "flying saucer" by the U.S. military. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell_UFO_incident)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we're alive — to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are." -- Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Elisabeth_K%C3%BCbler-Ross)