The nation is the world's third-smallest after Vatican City and Monaco, with a population of about 12,000.Adeang said the decision was not about politics but about identity, heritage, and "preserving the legacy of our ancestors and strengthening the future of our children".The government has formally notified international organisations and countries of the change, with the transition process already underway.Over the last 50 years, nations asserting their independence from former colonial empires have led to a growing trend — national name changes.For many nations like Naoero, the desire to revert to their original pre-colonial names is about cementing a sense of national identity or pride.Timor-Leste adopted its current name — a Portuguese tautology in which both words mean "East" — in 2002 Tuvalu and Kiribati took back their names in 1978 and 1979 respectively, doing away with colonial names the Ellice Islands and Gilbert Islands.Vanuatu followed suit in 1980, retiring the name New Hebrides after becoming independent.Overseas, Türkiye was among the most recent major nations to change its name