It is the only democratic country in the world, which does not have a capital

The island nation in the southwest Pacific Ocean was once called the ‘Pleasant Island

During the reign of the emperors, new cities and capitals were built regularly. They would change the capital as per their convenience. Take the case of our capital Dhaka. 15 years after Raja Mansinthe Raajmahal was established as the capital of Subah Bengal in 1595 AD, Islam Khan Chishti moved the capital from there to Dhaka. Even in modern times, however, the change of capital rarely happens. For example, Indonesia has decided to change the capital to free the residents of the capital city stuck in traffic jams.

The country’s government has announced that the new capital they are going to build instead of Jakarta will be called ‘Nusantara’. Neighboring Myanmar also moved its capital from Yangon (formerly Rangoon) to Naypyidaw in 2005. There are many countries which have not one but two capitals. Sri Lanka is a country with multiple capitals—Colombo is the country’s commercial capital, and Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is the administrative capital.

In most cases the most important city of a country is the capital of that country. But there are countries in the world that have no capital! For example, Nauru. It is the only democratic country in the world, which does not have a capital. Not only that, it has no army of its own. Nauru is the third smallest country in the world. The country was once called as ‘Pleasant Island’. Nauru is an island nation in the southwest Pacific Ocean located in Oceania. It takes five hours to fly to Nauru from Australia. The total area of the country is only 21 square kilometers. As of 2023, its total population is around 14,400. About 96 percent people of this country are educated.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the country had a booming phosphate mining business. Currently the main sources of Nauru’s economy are phosphate mining, offshore banking, fishing and foreign aid. Currently, the per capita income of the country is 17 thousand 870 dollars. The official currency of Nauru is the Australian dollar. The national language of the country is Nauruan. However, English is still used in business and government official work. Although there is no recognized capital, Nauru’s government offices are located in Yare District.