t to be held NA April 2003) election results: percent of vote - NA%;
seats - independents 18

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders: loose multiparty system; Democratic Party
[Kennan ADEANG]; Nauru Party (informal) [Bernard DOWIYOGO]

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, FAO,
ICAO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, OPCW, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO

Diplomatic representation in the US: Nauru does not have an embassy in
the US, but does have a UN office at 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400 D, New
York, New York 10017; telephone: 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 Nauru

Economy - overview: Revenues of this tiny island have come from
exports of phosphates, but reserves are expected to be exhausted within
a few years. Phosphate production has declined since 1989, as demand has
fallen in traditional markets and as the marginal cost of extracting the
remaining phosphate increases, making it less internationally competitive.
While phosphates have given Nauruans one of the highest per capita incomes
in the Third World, few other resources exist with most necessities being
imported, including fresh water from Australia. The rehabilitation of
mined land and the replacement of income from phosphates are serious
long-term problems. In anticipation of the exhaustion of Nauru's
phosphate deposits, substantial amounts of phosphate income have been
invested in trust funds to help cushion the transition and provide for
Nauru's economic future. The government has been borrowing heavily from
the trusts to finance fiscal deficits. To cut costs the government has
called for a freeze on wages, a reduction of over-staffed public service
departments, privatization of numerous government agencies, and closure
of some overseas consulates. In recent years Nauru has encouraged the
registration of offshore banks and corporations. Tens of billions of
dollars have been channeled through their accounts. Few comprehensive
statistics on the Nauru economy