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Tuvalu

This article is about the country. For other uses, see Tuvalu (disambiguation).
"Ellice Islands" redirects here. For Ellis Island in New York, see Ellis Island.
Not to be confused with Tuva.

Tuvalu
Tuuvalu (Tuvaluan)
Motto: Tuvalu mo te Atua (Tuvaluan)
"Tuvalu for the Almighty"
Anthem: Tuvalu mo te Atua (Tuvaluan)
Tuvalu for the Almighty
Royal anthem: "God Save the King"
Location of Tuvalu
Capital
and largest city
Funafuti
8°31′S 179°12′E / 8.517°S 179.200°E / -8.517; 179.200
Official languages
Ethnic groups
(2022)
Religion
(2022)[1][2]
Demonym(s)Tuvaluan
GovernmentUnitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Monarch
Charles III
Tofiga Vaevalu Falani
Feleti Teo
LegislatureParliament
Independence
• from the United Kingdom
1 October 1978
Area
• Total
26 km2 (10 sq mi)[3] (192nd)
• Water (%)
negligible
Population
• 2021 estimate
11,900 (194th)
• 2017 census
10,645
• Density
475.88/km2 (1,232.5/sq mi) (27th)
GDP (PPP)2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $63 million[4]
• Per capita
Increase $5,765[4]
GDP (nominal)2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $63 million[4]
• Per capita
Increase $5,772[4]
Gini (2010)Steady 39.1[5]
medium
HDI (2021)Increase 0.641[6]
medium (130th)
Currency
(AUD)
Time zoneUTC+12
Driving sideleft
Calling code+688
ISO 3166 codeTV
Internet TLD.tv

Tuvalu (/tuːˈvɑːluː/ ⓘ too-VAH-loo),[7] formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is an island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and Australia. It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands (which belong to the Solomon Islands), northeast of Vanuatu, southeast of Nauru, south of Kiribati, west of Tokelau, northwest of Samoa and Wallis and Futuna, and north of Fiji.

Tuvalu is composed of three reef islands and six atolls spread out between the latitude of 5° and 10° south and between the longitude of 176° and 180°. They lie west of the International Date Line.[8] The 2017 census determined that Tuvalu had a population of 10,645, making it the second-least populous country in the world, behind Vatican City. Its total land area is 26 square kilometres (10 sq mi).

The first inhabitants of Tuvalu were Polynesians, according to well established theories regarding a migration of Polynesians into the Pacific that began about three thousand years ago.[9] Long before European contact with the Pacific islands, Polynesians frequently voyaged by canoe between the islands. Polynesian navigation skills enabled them to make elaborately planned journeys in either double-hulled sailing canoes or outrigger canoes.[10] Scholars believe that the Polynesians spread out from Samoa and Tonga into the Tuvaluan atolls, which then served as a stepping stone for further migration into the Polynesian outliers in Melanesia and Micronesia.[11][12][13]

In 1569, Spanish explorer and cartographer, Álvaro de Mendaña became the first European known to sail through the archipelago, sighting the island of Nui during an expedition he was making in search of Terra Australis. The island of Funafuti was named Ellice's Island in 1819. Later, the whole group was named Ellice Islands by English hydrographer Alexander George Findlay. In the late 19th century, Great Britain claimed control over the Ellice Islands, designating them as within their sphere of influence.[14] Between 9 and 16 October 1892, Captain Herbert Gibson of HMS Curacoa declared each of the Ellice Islands a British protectorate. Britain assigned a resident commissioner to administer the Ellice Islands as part of the British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT). From 1916 to 1975, they were managed as part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony.

A referendum was held in 1974 to determine whether the Gilbert Islands and Ellice Islands should each have their own administration.[15] As a result, the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony legally ceased to exist on 1 October 1975; on 1 January 1976, the old administration was officially separated,[16] and two separate British colonies, Kiribati and Tuvalu, were formed. On 1 October 1978, Tuvalu became fully independent as a sovereign state within the Commonwealth, and is a constitutional monarchy with King Charles III as King of Tuvalu. On 5 September 2000, Tuvalu became the 189th member of the United Nations.

The islands do not have a significant amount of soil, so the country relies heavily on imports and fishing for food. Licensing fishing permits to international companies, grants and aid projects, and remittances to their families from Tuvaluan seafarers who work on cargo ships are important parts of the economy. Because it is a low-lying island nation, the country is extremely vulnerable to sea level rise due to climate change. It is active in international climate negotiations as part of the Alliance of Small Island States.

  1. ^ US State Dept 2022 report
  2. ^ The ARDA website, retrieved 2023-08-28
  3. ^ "Population by sex, annual rate of population increase, surface area and density" (PDF). United Nations. 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook database (Tuvalu)". World Economic Outlook, October 2023. International Monetary Fund. October 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  5. ^ Gini index (World Bank estimate). Washington, DC: World Bank Group. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Human Development Report 2021/2022" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  7. ^ Deverson, Tony; Kennedy, Graeme, eds. (2005). "Tuvalu". The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195584516.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-558451-6. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Maps of Tuvalu". Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  9. ^ Howe, Kerry (2003). The Quest for Origins. New Zealand: Penguin. pp. 68–70. ISBN 0-14-301857-4.
  10. ^ Bellwood, Peter (1987). The Polynesians – Prehistory of an Island People. Thames and Hudson. pp. 39–44.
  11. ^ Bellwood, Peter (1987). The Polynesians – Prehistory of an Island People. Thames and Hudson. pp. 29 & 54.
  12. ^ Bayard, D.T. (1976). The Cultural Relationships of the Polynesian Outliers. Otago University, Studies in Prehistoric Anthropology, Vol. 9.
  13. ^ Kirch, P.V. (1984). The Polynesian Outliers. 95 (4) Journal of Pacific History. pp. 224–238.
  14. ^ "Declaration between the Governments of Great Britain and the German Empire relating to the Demarcation of the British and German Spheres of Influence in the Western Pacific, signed at Berlin, April 6, 1886". 1886. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  15. ^ "Moment of Decision for Ellice". 45(8) Pacific Islands Monthly. 1 August 1974. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  16. ^ W. David McIntyre. "The Partition of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands" (PDF). Island Studies Journal, Vol. 7, No.1, 2012. pp. 135–146. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2020.

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