Do you want to know what happened with the country? How did the tiny rock island nation NAURU go from being one of the wealthiest countries to land gripped by financial crisis? 

Before we get to the heart of the story and know what exactly happened, some context on one of the main characters of the tale- Phosphate.

The naturally occurring rock is used in wide array of items: think fertilizers, detergents and even explosives.

Lucky for Nauru, they had a bucket load of it. Nearly 80% of the country was covered in these rocks.

Up till 1968, Nauru remained under the jurisdiction of Australia, unable to benefit much from the mining and export of the rock.

Nauruan landowners did receive royalties but it wasn't that significant. But once they were independent, they started cashing in one of the richest countries on the planet. 

By 1975, the country had the 2nd highest per capita GDP. But the Government paid no heed to economic planning. They bought an airline, cruise ships, hotels, while politicians went on state funded shopping sprees abroad.

The government didn't even tax the income of the people. The country provided free education and healthcare to everyone.

And at this point you might think - HOW CAN ONE KEEP THIS UP? IF THE AMOUNT WAS USED BY THE GOVERNMENT WISELY, THE COUNTRY WOULD NOW HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE RICHEST ONCE?

Well, one can't . eventually, phosphate deposits started running out. So the Government started looking for various ways to fund itself. They started issuing passports, to earn extra cash in fees. The country became the backyard of illegal immigrants.

Further, the island nation allowed anyone to set up a bank. Surprisingly, they didn't even require a physical branch and 400 banks popped up by early 1990s.

This turned it into a heaven for tax evasion and money laundering. And by 2004, the nation was engulfed in economic and financial crisis, saddled with large amounts of unpaid debt.

REMINDS ONE OF THE FOLLIES OF GREED.

This is how a tiny island nation go from being the wealthiest to a land grappled by financial crisis. How a government that didn't have any economic plan made the whole country suffer? How a Government was not able to save its country from losses but made it suffer the worst? 

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