Nauru was originally settled by the Polynesians and Micronesians at least 3,000 years ago, and they eventually formed 12 distinct clans. The first European to visit the island was a British whaler, who was soon followed by other whalers needing to replenish supplies. This contact eventually led to the spread of firearms and created much instability among the clans. In the clan war of 1878-88, around 500 of the island’s 1400 population perished. The Germans who had significant local involvement in the nearby Marshall Islands Protectorate annexed Nauru to become part of this protectorate and removed all firearms from the clans. The Germans, in combination with a British company, began mining phosphate at the start of the 20^th century. In 1914, at the outbreak of World War I, Australian troops captured and occupied the island, which was later heavily shelled by a German warship, destroying much of the infrastructure of the time. In World War II, the Japanese captured the island and deported many of the able-bodied population to work as labourers in the Chuuk islands. Nearly half the 1200 unfortunates perished prior to being repatriated by the Australians at the end of the war.

The post-war period is characterized by a heavy regime of mining, overseen by Australian interests. The nation was granted independence in 1967 and took ownership of the mining operation. In 1987, Nauru made a case against Australia in the international Court of Justice for earlier damage due to phosphate mining. The case was settled out of court for $107 million dollars (Australian) and an ongoing $2.5 million dollar stipend to fund environmental rehabilitation. During the 1990’s, in an effort to raise funds, Nauru became a tax haven and an unregulated banking centre and, as a result, became a focus for money laundering before international pressure caused this arrangement to cease.

From 2002-2008, the Australian Government paid Nauru substantial amounts of money to allow the establishment of a controversial refugee detention centre to process refugees arriving by boat at Australian shores.