Aiwo

Aiwo is a district in the Pacific island country of Nauru. It belongs to Aiwo constituency.

Geography

It is located in the west of the island. It covers an area of and has a population of 1,258. It is sometimes called the unofficial capital city of Nauru; Nauru does not have an official capital city, and it is more common for Yaren to be cited as such.

Local features

The majority of the Nauruan industry is located in Aiwo. Among the facilities in Aiwo are:

The Aiue Boulevard
Nauru International Port
The Chinatown of Nauru
The OD-N-Aiwo Hotel, one of two hotels in Nauru. Privately owned, it is also the tallest building in Nauru
The Linkbelt Oval sports stadium
The powerhouse
Formerly, the Nauru campus of the University of the South Pacific
The Nauru Local Government Council chambers and offices
The Nauru Phosphate Corporation processing facilities and cantilever

The district returns two members to the Parliament of Nauru in Yaren.
The two diplomatic missions on the island, the Australian High Commission and the Republic of China Embassy are in Aiwo District.

Education

The primary and secondary schools serving all of Nauru are Yaren Primary School in Yaren, Nauru Primary School in Meneng district, Nauru College in Denigomodu district, and Nauru Secondary School in Yaren.
Aiwo Primary School previously operated in Aiwo. As of April 2002 it served students from all parts of Nauru in years 3 and 4.
University of the South Pacific Nauru Campus was previously in Aiwo; it moved to Yaren District in 2018.

Notable people

The first speaker of the Nauruan parliament, Rev. Itubwa Amram, represented Aiwo. Following Amram, Kinza Clodumar represented the district. René Harris, who served a number of terms as President of Nauru, represented Aiwo in Parliament for many years.