July 19 (Reuters) - Schools and workplaces on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru will close and areas will be evacuated on Thursday while Australian army sappers try to defuse a 500-pound (227 kg) "armed and dangerous" World War Two-era bomb. Acting President Martin Hunt has declared a state of disaster covering the whole of Nauru, one of the world's smallest nations with a land area of just 21 sq. On Thursday morning, a 2 km area around the bomb will be evacuated as the Australian sappers try to disarm the fuse. Hunt on Wednesday ordered schools to shut and prohibited work from Thursday morning as a precaution to manage any bomb impact. It was the scene of fighting between the United States and Japan in World War Two.

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Persons: Martin Hunt, Jordan Bell, Hunt, Kirsty Needham, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Australian Defence Force, Wednesday, Thomson Locations: Nauru, Australia, United States, Japan