The Pacific island nation of Nauru has formally changed its name to the Republic of Naoero, President David Adeang announced this week, restoring the country's traditional Indigenous name more than a century after European colonizers altered it because they found the original pronunciation difficult. Nauru's parliament passed a constitutional amendment in May authorizing the name change, and the government had initially planned to hold a national referendum to confirm the shift before ultimately deciding against one. Under the change, the country's short-form name becomes Naoero, its international country code shifts from NRU to NRO, and its citizens will be referred to as dei-Naoero rather than Nauruans. The government has notified international organizations and other countries of the change, and the transition process is already underway. Nauru is the world's third-smallest country by land area, behind only Vatican City and Monaco, with a population of roughly 12,000 that ranks among the smallest in the world.