The beautiful ‘world’s richest island’ with Ferraris and Lamborghinis that’s now bankrupt | World | News

Nauru is a tiny, beautiful island in the Pacific that is home to just 11,000 people. While it is known as a small paradise with stunning beaches, many wouldn’t know that this Micronesian spot was once considered the world’s richest island.

The country enjoyed a brief period of wealth after phosphate was discovered there and mined in the early 1900s. When Nauru eventually gained independence in the 1960s, it took control of the mines and capitalised on the resources to create a booming economy.

A New York Times report from 1982 said Nauru was, by that point, the “smallest and wealthiest independent democracy in the world” and had “per capita income surpassing that of any oil-rich Arab nation.”

Various reports from the time epitomised the wealth enjoyed here, including the time a police chief bought a Lamborghini and couldn’t fit in the driver’s seat.

The BBC reported that a number of sports cars, including Ferraris, were imported to the island during this period.

More recently, YouTuber Ruhi Çenet visited the country and came across lots of expensive cars, including Land Rovers and Cadillacs.

However, the phosphate revenues dwindled by the 1990s, dealing a heavy blow to the island’s economy.

Nauru was eventually saved from economic meltdown when it won a bailout from Hiranandani Corp Worldwide, an Indian business group, in 2002.

The island now faces a new challenge – climate change.

Rising sea levels threaten to leave Nauru submerged under the Pacific Ocean in the years to come.

As a result, Nauru has unveiled a citizenship by investment programme, allowing wealthy individuals to acquire Nauruan citizenship in exchange for an investment of $105,000 (£77,000).

The island hopes to use these funds to pay for an ambitious £50 billion project to build housing on higher, more habitable land to help locals survive rising sea levels.