The islands which now form the Republic of Kiribati have been inhabited for at least seven hundred years, and possibly much longer. The initial Austronesian peoples’ population, which remains the overwhelming majority today, was visited by Polynesian and Melanesian invaders before the first European sailors visited the islands in the 17th century. For much of the subsequent period, the main island chain, the Gilbert Islands, was ruled as part of the British Empire. The country gained its independence in 1979 and has since been known as Kiribati.
The first inhabitants of Tuvalu were Polynesians, so the origins of the people of Tuvalu can be traced to the spread of humans out of Southeast Asia, from Taiwan, via Melanesia and across the Pacific islands of Polynesia.
The Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Papua New Guinea and Hawaii. They constitute the main part of the nation of Kiribati.
The Gilbert and Ellice Islands in the Pacific Ocean were part of the British Empire from 1892 to 1976. They were a protectorate from 1892 to 12 January 1916, and then a colony until 1 January 1976. The history of the colony was mainly characterized by phosphate mining on Ocean Island. In October 1975, these islands were divided by force of law into two separate colonies, and they became independent nations shortly thereafter: the Ellice Islands became Tuvalu in 1978, and the Gilbert Islands became part of Kiribati in 1979.
Niutao is a reef island in the northern part of Tuvalu. It is one of the nine districts (islands) of Tuvalu. It is also one of the three districts that consist of only one island - not counting the three islets inside the closed lagoon. Niutao has a population of 582.
Nukufetau is an atoll that is part of the nation of Tuvalu. The atoll was claimed by the US under the Guano Islands Act some time in the 19th century and was ceded in a treaty of friendship concluded in 1979 and coming into force in 1983. It has a population of 597 who live on Savave islet. In 1951 the school that was located on Motumua islet was transferred to Savave and became the government primary school for Nukufetau. It was named the Tutasi Memorial School in honour of its predecessor.
Tuvalu – United States relations are bilateral relations between Tuvalu and the United States.
Funafuti is the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 6,320 people, and so it has more people than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with approximately 60% of the population. It consists of a narrow sweep of land between 20 and 400 metres wide, encircling a large lagoon 18 km long and 14 km wide. The average depth of the Funafuti lagoon is about 20 fathoms. With a surface area of 275 square kilometres (106.2 sq mi), it is by far the largest lagoon in Tuvalu. The land area of the 33 islets around the atoll of Funafuti totals 2.4 square kilometres (0.9 sq mi); taken together, they constitute less than one percent of the total area of the atoll. Cargo ships can enter Funafuti's lagoon and dock at the port facilities on Fongafale.
HMS Blanche was a 1760-ton, 6-gun Eclipse-class wooden screw sloop built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1860s by Chatham Dockyard.
HMS Virago was a Royal Navy Driver-class wooden paddle sloop launched on 25 July 1842 from Chatham Dockyard.
HMS Curacoa was a Comus-class corvette of the Royal Navy, built by John Elder & Co., Govan, launched in 1878, and sold in 1904 to be broken up. She served on the Cape of Good Hope and West Africa Station, the Australia Station and as a training cruiser in the Atlantic.
HMS Royalist was a Satellite-class composite screw sloop of the Royal Navy, built in 1883 and hulked as a depot ship in 1900. She was renamed Colleen in 1913, transferred to the Irish Free State in 1923 and broken up in 1950.
HMS Opal was an Emerald-class corvette of the Royal Navy, laid down as Magicienne by William Doxford & Sons Ltd, Sunderland and launched on 9 March 1875.
HMS Renard was a schooner of the Royal Navy, built by John Cuthbert, Millers Point, New South Wales and launched 16 January 1873.
HMS Basilisk was a first-class paddle sloop of the Royal Navy, built at the Woolwich Dockyard and launched on 22 August 1848.
HMS Miranda was a Doterel-class sloop of the Royal Navy, built at Devonport Dockyard and launched on 30 September 1879.
British protectorates were protectorates—or client states—under protection of the British Empire's armed forces and represented by British diplomats in international arenas, such as the Great Game, in which the Emirate of Afghanistan and the Tibetan Kingdom became protected states for short periods of time. Many territories which became British protectorates already had local rulers with whom the Crown negotiated through treaty, acknowledging their status whilst simultaneously offering protection, e.g. British Paramountcy. British protectorates were therefore governed by indirect rule. In most cases, the local ruler, as well as the subjects of the indigenous ruler were not British subjects. British protected states represented a more loose form of British suzerainty, where the local rulers retained absolute control over the states' internal affairs and the British exercised control over defence and foreign affairs.
Alfred Restieaux (1832–1911) was born in Paris, France, and came from a family of French descent. His grandfather was a French nobleman who escaped the guillotine during the French Revolution. At the age of 16 he migrated to Australia and later he travelled to South America and North America. He later became an island trader in the central Pacific. From 1867 to 1872 he had dealings with Ben Pease and Bully Hayes, two of the more notorious captains of ships and blackbirders that operated in the Pacific at that time.
Christian Martin Kleis (1850–1908), known as Martin Kleis, was born in Denmark and died in the Ellice Islands (Tuvalu). Kleis was the resident trader on Nui in the late 19th century.
Admiral Edward Henry Meggs Davis was a Royal Navy captain, then admiral, who served in the Pacific Islands.
United Kingdom