TED Case Studies Case Number: 412 Case Mnemonic: NAURU Case Name: PHOSPHATE MINING IN NAURU Case Author: Michael E. Pukrop, May, 1997 LEGAL CLUSTERS GEOGRAPHIC CLUSTERS TRADE CLUSTERS ... OTHER FACTORS I. Identification 1. The Issue 2. Description This section contains nine parts: history, phosphate, damage, people, culture, economics, legal issues, settlement, and the future. HISTORY: The story begins in 1908, when the Germans, then in control of Nauru, began to mine the large deposits of phosphate located there. The island fell into the hands of the Australians after their soldiers liberated Nauru in the early months of World War I. The League of Nations subsequently set up a mandate system than Australia, Great Britain, and New Zealand administered together. These three states then set up the British Phosphate Commissioners to deal with the mining operation. In 1942, the Germans seized and occupied Nauru. After World War II, Australia became the chief administrator of the United Nations Trusteeship that included Nauru until independence for the island was granted in early 1968.(1) PHOSPHATE: Nauru's phosphate can be described as a cash crop, because it is the only resource with which the island can sustain an economy. Nauru exports the majority of its phosphate to Australia, which uses it as a fertilizer because its soils are poor for agriculture.(2) | |
|
