Nauru will hold a public referendum after parliament approved a constitutional amendment to change the country’s official name to Naoero, the government and New Zealand broadcaster RNZ reported. The referendum is required to ratify the amendment.
President David Adeang first put the proposal forward in January. Officials say the move is intended to restore the island’s indigenous name and distance the nation from a label they regard as a colonial-era distortion.
Most Nauruans speak the indigenous language Dorerin Naoero alongside English. The government argues that the form “Nauru” arose because foreign speakers could not pronounce “Naoero” properly, and that reverting to the native form would better reflect the country’s heritage, language and identity.
Nauru is the world’s smallest island republic, about 20 square kilometres (7.7 square miles), with a population of roughly 10,000. Its modern history includes periods of foreign control: Germany declared it a protectorate in the late 19th century, and after World War I the island was occupied and then jointly administered by Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand until independence in 1968.
Colonial powers developed Nauru’s very pure phosphate deposits for use as fertilizer. Mining brought an economic boom after independence but the phosphate reserves have since been exhausted, leaving the island’s interior heavily degraded and largely uninhabitable.
If voters approve the change at the referendum, the country would officially adopt the name Naoero as part of a broader effort to emphasize indigenous language and identity.