[REVISION HISTORY]

Nauru renamed Republic of Naoero

Updated 7 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-08-05 08:46 UTC → 2026-08-07 20:56 UTC · added ~~removed~~

In May 2026 Nauru’s parliament approved a constitutional amendment to restore the island’s pre‑colonial name, Republic of Naoero. The amendment passed in two separate votes and a planned referendum was cancelled, with President David Adeang saying the indigenous spelling had never truly been lost. On 30 July 2026 the government formally declared the rename, adopting the short form “Naoero,” the country code NRO, and the citizen designation “dei‑Naoero.” International bodies and foreign states were notified, and agencies, passports and diplomatic missions began using the new name and symbols. A further update on 2 early August 2026 ~~confirmed that~~ the United Nations had accepted the new designation, shifting the UN country code from NRU to NRO. Officials cited Turkey’s recent re‑branding to “Türkiye” as a diplomatic precedent and highlighted UNESCO’s classification of the Naoero language as seriously threatened, linking the change to new legislation promoting the language in education and government communications. By early August, the United Nations formally revised its database, switching the switched Nauru’s country code to NRO and ~~listing~~ listed citizens as dei‑Naoero. ~~Correspondingly, the foreign~~ Foreign ministries of Australia, New Zealand, the United States and China updated their ~~official~~ records. ~~Officials framed the rename as a cultural correction, emphasizing heritage and language rather than any political realignment.~~ President David Adeang ~~reiterated that~~ said a referendum was unnecessary because the indigenous name already appears on the coat of arms. The short form “Naoero,” the code NRO, and the citizen designation were adopted for passports, diplomatic missions and other state symbols. The administration continues to promote the endangered Naoero language and fund climate‑resilience projects through its paid‑citizenship scheme. On 7 August 2026 Adeang reiterated the change, noting that the English spelling now matches the indigenous term used in the Nauruan language. He placed the rename alongside recent global examples such as Türkiye, Eswatini and Cabo Verde, and said the amendment will be reflected in all government documents, UN listings and foreign diplomatic references.

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