Nauru was once the world’s richest country

Despite being one of the smallest country in the world, Nauru was also once the richest country in the world. Nauru is one of the three major phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean (the other two are Banaba of Kiribati and Makatea of French Polynesia). As a result, Nauru is very rich in surface resources and can easily conduct open-pit mining. However, today, the island only has some phosphate reserves left, but it is no longer economically viable to exploit. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Nauru had the highest per capita income of any sovereign nation.

As phosphate reserves were depleted, and the environment was severely damaged by mining, a fund was established to manage the island's declining value. To earn an income, Nauru quickly became a tax haven and money laundering hub. Between 2001 and 2008, Nauru offered Australia a Nauru detention center in exchange for aid.