Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament (18 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms) elections: last held 18 November 1995 (next to be held NA November 1998) election results: percent of vote-NA; seats-independents 18
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders: loose multi-party system; Nauru Party (informal), Bernard DOWIYOGO; Democratic Party, Kennan ADEANG
International organization participation: AsDB, C (special), ESCAP,
ICAO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, Sparteca, SPC,
SPF, UNESCO, UPU, WHO
Diplomatic representation in the US: Nauru does not have an embassy in the US consulate(s): Agana (Guam)
Diplomatic representation from the US: the US does not have an embassy in Nauru; the US Ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Nauru
Flag description: blue with a narrow, horizontal, yellow stripe across the center and a large white 12-pointed star below the stripe on the hoist side; the star indicates the country's location in relation to the Equator (the yellow stripe) and the 12 points symbolize the 12 original tribes of Nauru
@Nauru:Economy
Economy-overview: Revenues come from the export of phosphates, the reserves of which are expected to be exhausted by the year 2000. Phosphates have given Nauruans one of the highest per capita incomes in the Third World, but incomes probably will drop sharply in the future. Few other resources exist, so most necessities must be imported, including fresh water from Australia. The rehabilitation of mined land and the replacement of income from phosphates are serious long-term problems. Substantial amounts of phosphate income are invested in trust funds to help cushion the transition. However, dividends from the trusts have declined sharply since 1990 and the government has been borrowing heavily from the trusts to finance fiscal deficits. In an effort to stem further escalation of fiscal problems, the government has called for a freeze on wages for two years, a reduction of over-staffed public service departments, drastic cutbacks in hiring new government staff, privatization of numerous government agencies, and closure of some overseas consulates.
GDP: purchasing power parity-$100 million (1993 est.)