Over a century of phosphate mining has rendered most of the island of Nauru uninhabitable. Colonialism and extensive mining has resulted in a huge loss of traditional culture and the country becoming reliant on foreign aid. The high-grade phosphate that covered four fifths of the island was considered by outsiders as a very lucrative resource that had to be mined, particularly as fertilizer to enhance the pastures of Australia and New Zealand. The development of Nauru has been misinterpreted by attributions of wealth to Nauruans when most of the profits from mining accrued to the mining agencies. Sales of phosphate yielded far greater development to Australian agriculture than to Nauruan owners of the resource. Meanwhile, the small island surface of Nauru underwent gradual destruction of its interior retarding any developments, economic or humanitarian.