president from among the members of
Parliament
elections: president elected by Parliament for a three-year term;
election last held 8 February 1997 (next to be held NA 2000)
election results : Kinza CLODUMAR elected president; percent of
Parliament vote - NA
note: President CLODUMAR is the country's fifth president in five
months

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: none

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

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 FY96/97 budget calls for a freeze on government 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: