The country changing its name after 58 years: Here is what it will be called from now on
Against the backdrop of plans to open an embassy in Jerusalem, the world's third-smallest country has announced a name change. This move aims to align the state's official name with its local language and heritage, resulting in updates to international codes and national branding.
Many countries have changed their official and international names over the past century. For instance, Myanmar replaced Burma in 1989, and Persia became Iran following the fall of the Shah's regime. Similarly, Macedonia changed its official name to the "Republic of North Macedonia." Such changes are typically driven by a desire to shed colonial legacies, align with local languages, or mark political transformations.
Now, the Pacific island nation of Nauru is taking similar steps. The government has announced that the country will officially be called the "Republic of Naoero," ensuring the name matches the spelling and pronunciation of the country's official language.
With this change, the country's international code will shift from NRU to NRO, and its people will be known as "dei-Naoero" instead of Nauruans. A government statement explained that this move restores the remote island nation's traditional name, noting that it had been known as Nauru internationally only because the local name was difficult for foreigners to pronounce.
"This change seeks to pay a more faithful tribute to our nation's heritage, our language, and our identity," said President David Adeang when proposing the measure in parliament in January. The constitutional amendment was approved by lawmakers in two required rounds of voting.
Naoero is the third-smallest country in the world by population, with only 12,000 residents. The nation, which was previously occupied by Germany and later administered by Australia before gaining independence in 1968, currently faces the existential threat of rising sea levels due to climate change.
The government is seeking to attract foreign investment, including through a citizenship-by-investment program, to fund the relocation of infrastructure and residential areas away from the ocean.
This name change follows a global trend of shedding colonial pasts, similar to the African kingdom of Swaziland, which returned to its historical name Eswatini in 2018, or Turkey, which officially adopted the spelling Türkiye in 2022.
The move will lead to updates for national airlines and shipping companies. The UN website, the foreign ministries of Australia and New Zealand, and the US and Chinese embassies in the region are already updating their records to reflect the new name.
Phosphate mining made Nauru one of the world's wealthiest nations in the 1970s, though the industry's collapse led to a severe economic crisis in the 1990s.
Naoero is considered a great friend of Israel. It recently announced the official opening of an embassy in Jerusalem in the coming months. The decision followed a meeting in Fiji between Naoero's Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lionel Aingimea, and Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gideon Sa'ar.
