The British sea captain John Fearn, a whale hunter, became the first Westerner to visit this island in 1798, and he named it "Pleasant Island". From around 1830, Nauruans had contact with Europeans from whaling ships and traders who replenished their supplies (such as fresh water) at Nauru. Around this time, deserters from the ships began to live on the island. The islanders traded food for alcoholic palm wine and firearms. The firearms were used during the 10-year Nauruan Tribal War that began in 1878, and by 1888 had resulted in a reduction of the population of Nauru from 1400 to 900 people.

Phosphate was discovered on Nauru in 1900 by the prospector Albert Ellis. The Pacific Phosphate Company started to exploit the reserves in 1906 by agreement with Germany. The company exported its first shipment in 1907.^{10 - In 1914, following the outbreak of World War I, Nauru was captured by Australian troops. Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom signed the Nauru Island Agreement in 1919, creating a board known as the British Phosphate Commission (BPC). This took over the rights to phosphate mining.11 - According to the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics (now the Australian Bureau of Statistics), "In common with other natives, the islanders are very susceptible to tuberculosis and influenza, and in 1921 an influenza epidemic caused the deaths of 230 islanders." In 1923, the League of Nations gave Australia a trustee mandate over Nauru, with the United Kingdom and New Zealand as co-trustees.12 - 13 -}

Japanese troops occupied Nauru on 26 August 1942.^{15 - The Japanese troops built an airfield on Nauru which was bombed for the first time on 25 March 1943, preventing food supplies from being flown to Nauru. The Japanese deported 1,200 Nauruans to work as labourers in the Chuuk islands.14 - Nauru, which had been bypassed and left to "wither on the vine" by American forces, was finally set free from the Japanese on 13 September 1945, when Captain Solda, the commander of all the Japanese troops on Nauru, surrendered the island to the Royal Australian Navy and Army. This surrender was accepted by the brigadier J. R. Stevenson, who represented Lieutenant General Sturdee, the commander of the First Australian Army, on board the warship HMAS Diamantina 16 - Arrangements were made to repatriate from Chuuk the 737 Nauruans who survived Japanese captivity there. They were returned to Nauru by the BPC ship Trienza in January 1946.17 - In 1947, a trusteeship was established by the United Nations, and Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom became the U.N. trustees of the island.}

In 1989, Nauru took legal actions against Australia in the International Court of Justice over Australia's actions during its administration of Nauru. In particular, Nauru made a legal complaint against Australia's failure to remedy the environmental damage caused by phosphate mining.^{19 - Certain Phosphate Lands:Nauru v. Australia led to an out-of-court settlement to rehabilitate the mined-out areas of Nauru.}

Nauru has used its position as a member of the United Nations to gain financial support from both the Republic of China (ROC) and the (PRC) by changing its position on the political status of Taiwan. During 2002, Nauru signed an agreement to establish diplomatic relations with the PRC on 21 July. Nauru accepted $130m from PRC for this action.^{25 - In response, the ROC severed diplomatic relations with Nauru two days later. Nauru later re-established links with the ROC on 14 May 2005,26 - and diplomatic ties with the PRC were officially severed on 31 May 2005. However, the PRC continues to maintain a diplomatic presence (a consulate?) on Nauru. Similarly in 2008, Nauru recognised Serbian break away region Kosovo as an independent country. Then, in 2009, Nauru became the fourth country, after Russia, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to recognise the breakaway region of Georgia, Abkhazia. Russia was reported to be giving Nauru $50M in humanitarian aid in return.27 -}

In recent times, a significant portion of Nauru's income has been in the form of aid from Australia. In 2001, the MV Tampa , a Norwegian ship that had rescued 433^{28 - refugees (from various countries including Afghanistan) from a stranded 20-metre-long boat and was seeking to dock in Australia, was diverted to Nauru as part of the Pacific Solution. Nauru operated the detention centre in exchange for Australian aid. By November 2005, only two refugees, Mohammed Sagar and Muhammad Faisal, remained on Nauru from those first sent there in 2001,29 - with Sagar finally resettling in early 2007. The Australian government sent further groups of asylum-seekers to Nauru in late 2006 and early 2007.30 - In late January 2008, following Australia's decision to close the processing centre, Nauru announced that they will request a new aid deal to ease the resulting blow to the economy.31 -}

There are quite limited natural fresh water resources on Nauru. Rooftop storage tanks collect rainwater, but the islanders are mostly dependent on a single, aging desalination plant. Nauru's climate is hot and very humid year-round—because of the proximity of the land to the Equator and the ocean. Nauru is hit by monsoon rains between November and February. Annual rainfall is highly variable and is influenced by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, with several significant recorded droughts.^{22 -}

The temperature on Nauru ranges between 26 and 35° Celsius (79 to 95 °Fahrenheit) during the day and between 25 and 28° Celsius (77 to 82 °F.) at night ^]. As an island nation, Nauru is quite vulnerable to climate change and sea level change, but to what degree is difficult to predict. At least 80% of the land of Nauru is well-elevated, but this area will be uninhabitable until the phosphate mining rehabilitation program is implemented.^{33 - Also, the agricultural area of Nauru is quite close to the seashore.}

There are only about 60 recorded vascular plant species native to the island, none of which are endemic. Coconut farming, mining, and introduced species have caused serious disturbance to the native vegetation.^{22 - There are no native land mammals, but there are native birds, including the endemic Nauru Reed Warbler, insects, and land crabs. The Polynesian rat, cats, dogs, pigs, and chickens have been introduced to Nauru from ships, either accidentally or on purpose.}

The Trust's fixed and current assets, many of which were in Melbourne, were reduced considerably, and many never fully recovered. Some of the failed investments included financing 1993's Leonardo the Musical, which was a financial failure, the purchase of the vacant Carlton and United Breweries site on Swanston Street in 1994 which was sold undeveloped in 1998, a loan to the Fitzroy Football Club which went into liquidation in 1996, and the Queen Victoria Village site which was repossessed in 1999.

The Mercure Hotel in Sydney^{35 - and Nauru House in Melbourne were sold in 2004 to finance debts and Air Nauru's only Boeing 737, which was repossessed in December 2005. Normal air service resumed after the aircraft was replaced with a Boeing 737-300 airliner in June 2006.36 - 37 -}

The value of the Trust is estimated to have shrunk from 1,300 million Australian dollars in 1991 to 138 million dollars in 2002.^{38 - In 2005, the corporation sold its property asset in Melbourne, the vacant Savoy Tavern site, for $7.5 million.39 - Nauru currently lacks money to perform many of the basic functions of government. For example, the National Bank of Nauru is insolvent. The CIA World Factbook estimated GDP per capita at $5,000 in 2005. - The Asian Development Bank 2007 economic report on Nauru estimated GDP per capita at $2400 to $2715.2 -}

Australian rules football is the most popular sport in Nauru. There is a football league with seven teams. All games are played at Nauru's only stadium, the Linkbelt Oval. Other sports popular in Nauru include softball, cricket, golf, sailing, tennis, rugby (both union and league), and Association Football. Nauru participates in the Commonwealth Games and the Summer Olympic Games, where team members have been somewhat successful in weightlifting. Marcus Stephen has been a medallist, and he was elected to Parliament in 2003, and was elected as President of Nauru in 2007.

A traditional activity is catching noddy terns when they return from foraging at sea. At sunset, men stand on the beach ready to throw their lassos at the incoming birds. The Nauruan lasso is supple rope with a weight at the end. When a bird approaches, the lasso is thrown up, hits or drapes itself over the bird, which falls to the ground. The noddy is then killed, plucked, cleaned, cooked, and eaten.^{51 -}