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Nauru Renames Itself the Naoero Republic

The government says restoring the traditional local name justifies cancelling a planned referendum, and notifications to the UN and other states have begun.

Overview

  • The government announced on July 29 that the country’s official name is now the Naoero Republic, using the English spelling “Naoero.”
  • Authorities cancelled a previously planned referendum after arguing the change returns the nation to a traditional, already recognised local name.
  • The state has set the international country code to NRO and has formally notified the United Nations and other governments of the new name.
  • Officials say administrative steps are under way to update passports, treaties, databases and international registries, though full recognition requires procedural updates by other countries and agencies.
  • Naoero is a Pacific island of about 21 square kilometres and 12,000 people, and officials note the former exonym “Nauru” grew from foreign mispronunciation of the local name.