Mining of phosphate ore in the Republic of Nauru, an island in Micronesia in the South Pacific.
Since the late 19th century, the country has been known as one of the world's leading phosphate mines, which kept the country's economy rich.
This country, the third smallest in the world at about 21㎢ in area, is an island formed by millions of years of albatross and other seabird droppings on coral reefs, some of which have been transformed over time into phosphate ore.
However, around the 1990s, phosphate ore was depleted. The economy collapsed, and by 2004, the unemployment rate90%The data also showed that the number of visitors reached
Not only this, but problems are piling up for the future, such as refugees fleeing from the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia being placed in quarantine facilities, and rising sea levels due to climate change.
Learn more about the refugee crisis in Nauru → "Refugee quarantine on an island in the Pacific"
Learn more about climate change issues in the Pacific Islands → "Pacific Islands and Climate Change"
(Photo: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade/Flickr[.CC BY 2.0])