The parliament of Nauru has passed a constitutional amendment to change the country's official name from Nauru to 'Naoero', setting the stage for a referendum on the issue. The move is seen as an attempt to shed colonial-era legacies.

President David Adeang first proposed the change in January, arguing that the current name 'Nauru' is a distortion of the native pronunciation by foreign colonizers. The government stated that the name was changed 'not by our choice, but for convenience'.

The native language of Nauru is 'Dorerin Naoero', spoken by the majority of its nearly 10,000 citizens alongside English. The government believes reverting to the original name would 'more faithfully honor' the nation's heritage, language, and identity.

Nauru is the world's smallest island republic, covering just 20 square kilometers. It was a German protectorate from the late 1880s until World War I, then captured by Australian forces and jointly administered by Australia, the UK, and New Zealand until independence in 1968.

Colonial powers exploited Nauru's rich phosphate deposits for fertilizer, leading to an economic boom after independence. However, the deposits have since been depleted, leaving the island's center barren and uninhabitable.

Source: www.dw.com