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Ethnicity, Language, & Religion of Nauru

Ethnicity

About 60% of Nauru's population is Nauruan, but what exactly this means is somewhat of a mystery. Nauru sits between Melanesia and Micronesia in a spot somewhat forgotten so the settlers that have arrived to the island and intermarried with the people is not as consistent as the migration waves that spread across most of the islands of the South Pacific. It seems the people are primarily Micronesian, but there are significant traces of Melanesian and Polynesian.

Another quarter of Nauru's population is from other parts of the South Pacific, generally from Polynesia. The rest of the people are almost evenly divided between ethnic Chinese and Europeans.

Language

The only official language in Nauru is Nauruan, but English is the language generally used by both the government and in many business interactions as nearly everyone speaks or at least understands English. Nauruan falls in the Austronesian language family and is considered a Micronesian language. This makes Nauruan closely related to Gilbertese (Kiribati), Marshallese (Marshall Islands), and the many languages of the Federated States of Micronesia.

Religion

Just over a third of Nauru's population follows the Nauru Congregational Church and another 10% follow the local Nauru Independent Church, which preaches a form of Protestantism. Another third of the population is Roman Catholic and the rest of the people are divided between being atheist or adhering to a wide variety of religions, none of which have a significant following in Nauru.

Continue reading on Safari the Globe to Learn the Catholic Church's doctrines, liturgy, symbolism, traditions, & hierarchy

This page was last updated: May, 2014