Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Nauru was a "rentier state". Nauru is a phosphate rockisland, with deposits close to the surface, which allow for simple strip mining operations. This island was a major exporter of phosphate starting in 1907, when the Pacific Phosphate Company began mining there, through the formation of the British Phosphate Commission in 1919, and continuing after independence. This gave Nauru back full control of its minerals under the Nauru Phosphate Corporation, until the deposits ran out during the 1980s. - For this reason, Nauru briefly boasted the highest per-capita income enjoyed by any sovereign state in the world during the late 1960s and early 1970s. When the phosphate reserves were exhausted, and the environment had been seriously harmed by mining, the trust established to manage the island's wealth became greatly reduced in value. To earn income, the government resorted to unusual measures. In the 1990s, Nauru briefly became a tax haven and illegal money laundering centre. From 2001 to 2008, it accepted aid from the Australian government in exchange for housing an Nauru detention centre that held and processed those who had tried to enter Australia in an irregular manner.5 - From December 2005 to September 2006, Nauru became partially isolated from the outside world when Air Nauru, the only airline with service to the island, ceased to operate. The only outside access to Nauru was then by ocean-going ships. The airline was able to restart operations under the name Our Airline with monetary aid from Taiwan. The island has one airport;Nauru International Airport. On 23 April 2008, Nauru became the 34th state to recognise Kosovo. On 15 December 2009 Nauru became the fourth country to recognise Abkhazia,6 - and on 16 December recognised South Ossetia,7 - regions claimed by Georgia which had been de facto independent since the early 1990s and were recognised as such by Russia after the brief 2008 South Ossetia War. Reports suggest that this decision netted Nauru Russian aid of around US$50,000,000.6 - Nauru is the only state in the world to recognise Abkhazia and South Ossetia as well as Kosovo.