Oceania is a geographical region including Australasia,Melanesia,Micronesia,and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world,Oceania is generally considered a continent,while Australia is regarded as an island or a continental landmass within that continent. Spanning the Eastern and Western Hemispheres,at the centre of the water hemisphere,Oceania is estimated to have a land area of about 9,000,000 square kilometres (3,500,000 sq mi) and a population of around 44.4 million as of 2022. Oceania is the smallest continent in land area and the second-least populated after Antarctica.
Tuvalu,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,northeast of Vanuatu,southeast of Nauru,south of Kiribati,west of Tokelau,northwest of Samoa and Wallis and Futuna,and north of Fiji.
The Tuvalu national football team is the international football team of Tuvalu. Football in Tuvalu is played at the club and international level. The Tuvalu national team draws players from the Tuvalu A-Division and trains at the Tuvalu Sports Ground at Funafuti. The national team competes in the Pacific Games,and is controlled by the Tuvalu Islands Football Association,which is an associate member of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) but not a member of FIFA.
Tuvalu participates in the Olympic Games in the Summer Olympics. It has yet to compete at the Winter Olympics.
Sport is an important part of Tuvaluan culture,which sporting culture is based on traditional games and athletic activities and the adoption of some of the major international sports of the modern era.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) people in Tuvalu face legal difficulties not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Sections 153,154 and 155 of the Penal Code outlaw male homosexual intercourse with a penalty of up to 14 years in prison,but the law is not enforced. Employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation has been banned since 2017. Since 2023,the Constitution of Tuvalu has banned same-sex marriage.
Tuvalu participates in the Pacific Games which is a multi-sport event with participation exclusively from countries in Oceania. Known as the South Pacific Games prior to 2009,the games are currently held every four years.
Women in Tuvalu continue to maintain a traditional Polynesian culture within a predominantly Christian society. Tuvaluan cultural identity is sustained through an individual's connection to their home island. In the traditional community system in Tuvalu,each family has its own task,or salanga,to perform for the community. The skills of a family are passed on from parents to children. The women of Tuvalu participate in the traditional music of Tuvalu and in the creation of the art of Tuvalu including using cowrie and other shells in traditional handicrafts. There are opportunities of further education and paid employment with non-government organisations (NGOs) and government enterprises,education and health agencies being the primary opportunities for Tuvaluan women.
The Tuvalu Athletics Association (TAA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the Tuvalu.
The Law of Tuvalu comprises the legislation voted into law by the Parliament of Tuvalu and statutory instruments that become law;certain Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom;the common law;and customary law. The land tenure system is largely based on kaitasi.
Crime in Tuvalu is not a significant social problem due to small population,geographic isolation,and low development.
The Tuvalu Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (TASNOC) is the Tuvaluan organization recognised as a National Olympic Committee (NOC) by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In 2006,Tuvalu satisfied the IOC's criterion of a minimum five national sports federations recognised by their international sports federations,which included basketball,volleyball,weightlifting,boxing and table tennis.
Tuvalu competed at the 2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby,Papua New Guinea from 4 to 18 July 2015. Nakibae Kitisane was the Chef de Mission. Tuvalu listed 101 competitors as of 4 July 2015. Four competitors qualified for two sports.
The Tuvalu Weightlifting Federation (TWF) is the organisation recognised by the International Weightlifting Federation as the weightlifting federation of Tuvalu.
Beach volleyball at the Pacific Games has been contested since 1999 when the sport was included at the Eleventh South Pacific Games held in Guam. Since that time,Beach volleyball has been one of the core sports of the Pacific Games,required to be included for both men and women in every games. It has also been included in some of the Pacific Mini Games,starting with the seventh edition held in Palau in 2005.
Barina Waqa is the Secretary for Multi-Cultural Affairs with the Department of Justice and Border Control in Nauru. She is Nauru's first female lawyer.
Pole Atanraoi-Reim,Kiribati’s first female lawyer,was born to Atanraoi and Clare Baiteke. Her father Atanraoi,a retired diplomat,ecologist,and historian,served as Kiribati's first Secretary of Foreign Affairs
Tuvalu competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo,which were held from 23 July to 8 August 2021. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020,the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their participation marked their fourth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics since their debut at the 2008 Summer Olympics. The Tuvaluan delegation consisted of the sprinters Karalo Maibuca and Matie Stanley,both of whom were competing in their first Olympics. Neither Maibuca nor Stanley managed to progress beyond the preliminary rounds of their events,although Maibuca set a Tuvaluan national record of 11.42 seconds in the men's 100 metres.
Laingane Italeli Talia,is the current Attorney-General of Tuvalu. She is the second female Tuvaluan lawyer who has been appointed Attorney-General;she succeeded Eselealofa Apinelu who was the first Tuvaluan female who qualified as a lawyer,and also the first female appointed as the Attorney-General.
