Fifty years ago, on January 31, 1968, Nauru became an independent nation. It is the smallest island republic in the world with a land area of just 8.1 square miles (“about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC“) and a population of around 10,000 people. Prior to independence, from 1947 onward, the island was subject to a …
This blog post is part of our Frequently Asked Legal Questions series. Between March 3 and March 24, 2016, New Zealanders were able to vote in the country’s second referendum related to whether or not to change the official flag. Previously, in November-December 2015, voting in the first referendum narrowed the list of possible alternative flag designs …
Yesterday I published a post that provided some background information on Pitcairn Island: the mutiny on board the HMS Bounty led by Fletcher Christian on April 28, 1789; the settlement of Pitcairn (and subsequent emigration to Norfolk Island); William Bligh’s long trip home to England; and the court-martials of some of the mutineers that decided …