Nauru, no formal capital.

The story of Nauru is a very unusual one. To start with it's the 3rd smallest country in the world, and the smallest republic. It also only consists of one island. With its 21 sq. kilometers that's all Nauru is. Nauru's history is a sad if not fascinating one. Nauru's salvation but at the same time its curse was its enormous phosphate reserve. Discovered in the early 20th century they really started exporting it massively in the 60s. It made Nauru the second richest country per capita in the world!

The country was so rich that nobody had to work. All Nauruans were given a hefty allowance from the government. But things changed by the beginning of the nineties when the phosphate was all but gone and the industry had ruined the country. Some very unwise investments had seen millions of dollars evaporate. Not educated and unwilling to change their excessive lifestyle the country changed into a junkyard. 97% of the 11.000 Nauruans is still unemployed. 50% has diabetes.

To change their bad fortune the country resorted to some very radical political choices. For instance they acknowledged Taiwan for a large amount of money but then turned it around a few years later for another large amount of money, this time from China. In 2009 with only 3 other countries they acknowledged Abkhazia and South-Ossetia. This time after some Russian persuasian.

They also turned their country into a haven for criminal money for a while which got them on a UN black list. These things have been turned around recently and the Nauruans have chosen younger politicians to save their country. Not long ago a second layer of phosphate was discovered. A lot deeper and harder to get to it still is the second and last chance for Nauruans to save their country. Hopefully they will invest wisely this time so that their children can grow up on their mystical island. This photo depicts the remains of the once huge phosphate coocking plant. Which they've recently started up again.