The following are public holidays in Tuvalu. [1]
Date | English name | Tuvaluan name |
---|---|---|
1 January | New Year's Day | Tausaga Fou |
Second Monday in March | Commonwealth Day | |
moveable in autumn | Good Friday | |
moveable in autumn | Holy Saturday | |
moveable in autumn | Easter | |
moveable in autumn | Easter Monday | |
Second Monday in May | Gospel Day | Te Aso o te Tala Lei |
Second Saturday in June (can vary if appointed differently) | King's Official Birthday | |
First Monday in August | National Children's Day | Aso Tamaliki |
1 October (public holiday continues 2 October) | Tuvalu Day | |
Second Monday in November | Heir to the Throne's Birthday | |
25 December | Christmas Day | Kilisimasi |
26 December | Boxing Day |
Also, the regions observe the following regional holidays: [2]
Date | Atoll/Island | Name | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|
8 January | Nanumea | Te Po o Tefolaha | The day Nanumea embraced Christianity brought by the London Missionary Society through Samoan pastors. [3] |
11 February | Nukufetau | Te Aso o Tutasi | Honors the Tutasi school. |
16 February | Nui | Bogin te Ieka (Day of the Flood) | Commemorates the Tsunami that struck the island on that day in 1882. [4] [5] |
15 April | Nanumaga | Aho o te Fakavae | |
23 April | Funafuti | Te Aso o te Paula (The day of the bombing) [6] | Commemorates the day during the Pacific War (World War II) when 10 to 20 people took refuge in the concrete walled, pandanus-thatched church from a Japanese bombing raid. [6] Corporal Fonnie Black Ladd, USMCR, persuaded them to get into dugouts, then a bomb struck the building shortly after. [7] [8] |
moveable in May | Nukulaelae | Aso o te Tala Lei | Island-specific Gospel Day. |
17 September | Niutao | Te Aso o te Setema | |
21 October | Funafuti | Cyclone Day | Commemorates Cyclone Bebe's destruction of Funafuti in 1972. [9] [10] |
25 November | Vaitupu | Te Aso Fiafia (Happy Day) | Commemorates 25 November 1887 which was the date on which the final instalment of a debt of $13,000 was repaid to H. M. Ruge and Company. [11] |
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 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.
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.
Nanumea is the northwesternmost atoll in the Polynesian nation of Tuvalu, a group of nine coral atolls and islands spread over about 400 miles (640 km) of the Pacific Ocean just south of the equator and west of the International Date Line. Nanumea is 4 km2 (1.5 sq mi) with a population of 512 people.
Niulakita is the southernmost island of Tuvalu, and also the name of the only village on this island. Niulakita has a population of 34. The residents of Niulakita have moved to the island from Niutao. Niulakita is represented in the Parliament of Tuvalu by the members of the constituency of Niutao.
Sir Toaripi Lauti was a Tuvaluan politician who served as chief minister of the Colony of Tuvalu (1975–78), as the first prime minister following Tuvalu's independence (1978–1981) and governor-general of Tuvalu (1990–1993). He was married to Sualua Tui.
Nui is an atoll and one of nine districts of the Pacific Ocean state of Tuvalu. It has a land area of 3.37 km2 and a population of 610.
Nukulaelae is an atoll that is part of the nation of Tuvalu, and it has a population of 300. The largest settlement is Pepesala on Fangaua islet with a population of 300 people. It has the form of an oval and consists of at least 15 islets. The inhabited islet is Fangaua, which is 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) long and 50 to 200 metres wide. The easternmost point of Tuvalu is Niuoko islet. The Nukulaelae Conservation Area covers the eastern end of the lagoon. A baseline survey of marine life in the conservation zone was conducted in 2010.
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.
Tepuka is an island eighteen kilometers west of Fongafale, in the northwest of Funafuti, the main atoll of the Oceanian nation of Tuvalu. Te puka, or Pouka, is the name of a tree - Hernandia peltata.
Lake na is an islet of Nanumea atoll, Tuvalu. Nanumean traditions describe Lakena as being formed when sand spilled from the baskets of two women, Pai and Vau, when they were forced off Nanumea by Tefolaha, the Tongan warrior who became the ancestor of the people of Nanumea.
Te Motu Foliki is an islet of Nanumea atoll, Tuvalu. It is a small uninhabited islet, which Nanumean traditions describe as being formed when sand spilled from the baskets of two women, Pai and Vau, when they were forced off Nanumea by Tefolaha, the Tongan warrior who became the ancestor of the people of Nanumea.
Fale is an islet of Nukufetau, Tuvalu. The traditional history of Nukufetau recalls that in order to protect the atoll from raiders from Tonga, Lagitupu and Laupapa, two aliki (chiefs) protected Fale. Lagitupu and Laupapa created a trap at a place still called Tututekolo, which was beside a path which led to the beach, where they would surprise the raiders and spear them or split their skulls with an axe made from shells.
Motulalo is the largest islet of Nukufetau, Tuvalu. The traditional history of Nukufetau recalls that in order to protect the atoll from raiders from Tonga, Tauasa, an aliki (chief), was given Motulalo. Tauasa would pull up coconut trees and throw them at the raiders.
Savave is a village and islet of Nukufetau, Tuvalu, which is on the lagoon side of Fale islet. It is also the name of the small village on the island. In the late 19th century, after the coming of the missionaries, the people of Nukufetau lived on Fale islet before shifting to Savave which is on the lagoon side of the Fale settlement.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Tuvalu:
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.
Tuvaluan mythology tells stories of the creation of the islands of Tuvalu and of the founding ancestors of each island. While on some of the islands there are stories of spirits creating the islands, a creation story that is found on many of the islands is that te Pusi mo te Ali created the islands of Tuvalu; te Ali is believed to be the origin of the flat atolls of Tuvalu and te Pusi is the model for the coconut palms that are important in the lives of Tuvaluans. The strength of this belief has the consequence that Moray eel are tapu and are not eaten.
A paopao, is the name used by the Polynesian-speaking inhabitants of the Ellice Islands for their single-outrigger canoes, of which the largest could carry four to six adults. The large double-hulled sailing canoes had ceased to be constructed in the Ellice Islands some time before contact with Europeans.
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