Tuvalu is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie 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. Tuvalu is composed of three reef islands and six atolls. They are 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. Tuvalu has a population of 11,204. The total land area of the islands of Tuvalu is 26 square kilometres (10 sq mi).
Vaitupu is the largest atoll of the nation of Tuvalu. It is located at 7.48 degrees south and 178.83 degrees east. There are 1,061 people living on 5.6 square kilometres with the main village being Asau.
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.
Brigadier-General Ratu Epeli Ganilau, MC, MSD, is a Fijian former military officer and politician. His career previously encompassed such roles as Commander of the Fiji Military Forces and Chairman of the Bose Levu Vakaturaga. On 15 January 2007 he was sworn in as Minister for Fijian Affairs in the interim Cabinet formed in the wake of the military coup which deposed the Qarase government on 5 December 2006.
Ratu Naiqama Tawake Lalabalavu is a Fijian Paramount Chief and the current speaker of the parliament. He had served as the leader of the opposition.
Tovata is one of three confederacies comprising the Fijian House of Chiefs, to which all of Fiji's chiefs belong.
The Northern Division is one of four Divisions into which Fiji's fourteen Provinces are grouped for local government purposes. The administrative centre of the Division, where main governmental departments are located, is Labasa.
The Tui Cakau is the Paramount Chief of Cakaudrove Province in Fiji. In Modern Fiji this chiefly title is regarded as the most senior in the Tovata Confederacy, and the third most senior in the country.
Taveuni is the third-largest island in Fiji, after Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, with a total land area of 434 square kilometres. The cigar-shaped island, a massive shield volcano which rises from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, is situated 6.5 kilometres to the east of Vanua Levu, across the Somosomo Strait. It belongs to the Vanua Levu Group of islands and is part of Fiji's Cakaudrove Province within the Northern Division.
Rabi is a volcanic island in northern Fiji. It is an outlier to Taveuni, in the Vanua Levu Group. It covers an area of 66.3 square kilometers, reaching a maximum altitude of 463 meters and has a shoreline of 46.2 kilometers. With a population of around 5,000, Rabi is home to the Banabans who are the indigenous landowners of Ocean Island; the indigenous Fijian community that formerly lived on Rabi was moved to Taveuni after the island was purchased by the British government. The original inhabitants still maintain their links to the island, and still use the Rabi name in national competitions.
Buca Bay is an isolated area on the Fijian island of Vanua Levu. The four villages within this bay are Vunikura, Loa, Buca and Tukavesi. It serves as a terminus for ferries that cross between Vanua Levu and Taveuni.
Cakaudrove is one of fourteen provinces of Fiji, and one of three based principally on the northern island of Vanua Levu, occupying the south-eastern third of the island and including the nearby islands of Taveuni, Rabi, Kioa, and numerous other islands in the Vanua Levu Group. It has a total land area of 2,816 square kilometers, with a population of 50,469 at the most recent census in 2017, making it the seventh most populous province. The only major town is Savusavu, with a population of 3,372 in 2007.
Cakaudrove East Fijian Provincial Communal is a former electoral division of Fiji, one of 23 communal constituencies reserved for indigenous Fijians. Established by the 1997 Constitution, it came into being in 1999 and was used for the parliamentary elections of 1999, 2001, and 2006.. The electorate covered eastern areas of Cakaudrove Province; it included south-eastern Vanua Levu and the nearby islands of Taveuni, Rabi, and Kioa.
Tuvalu competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, from 8 to 24 August 2008. This was the nation's first ever appearance in an Olympic Game. The delegation included two track and field athletes and one weightlifter. Okilani Tinilau and Asenate Manoa participated in athletics while Logona Esau participated in the weightlifting sport. Both track and field athletes achieved national records. Logona Esau led the Tuvaluan squad as the nation's flag bearer in the parade of nations.
Asenate Manoa is a Tuvaluan track and field athlete who represented Tuvalu at the 2008 Summer Olympics, at the 2009 World Championships & 2011 World Championships and at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Manoa represented Tuvalu in the sport of powerlifting at the Pacific Games 2015 and won a bronze medal in the 72 kg Female category. She was the first woman to represent Tuvalu at the Olympics.
Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) on Funafuti atoll in Tuvalu is the only hospital in the country, and the primary provider of medical services for all the islands of Tuvalu. The hospital is located about 1.3 kilometres north from the centre of Funafuti on Fongafale islet.
Neli Lifuka was born in 1909 on Vaitupu, he worked as a marine engineer and from 1945 to 1951 he was the magistrate on Vaitupu. He organised the collection of the funds necessary to purchase Kioa island in Fiji in 1946 and in 1956 he joined the Kioa community and became the chairman of the council.
Donald Gilbert Kennedy was a teacher, then an administrator in the British colonial service in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony and the British Solomon Islands Protectorate. For his services as a Coastwatcher during the Pacific War, he was awarded the DSO, and the Navy Cross (U.S.). He published journal articles and books on the material culture of Vaitupu atoll, land tenure and the language of the Ellice Islands.
The Governor of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands was the colonial head of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands civil service from 1892 until 1979.
Vivian Fox-Strangways was a British officer, Resident Commissioner of the partly occupied by Japan Gilbert and Ellice Islands, from 1941 to 1946.
