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 Western Pacific nation of Tuvalu, formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is situated 4,000 kilometers (2,500 mi) northeast of Australia and is approximately halfway between Hawaii and Australia. It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands, southeast of Nauru, south of Kiribati, west of Tokelau, northwest of Samoa and Wallis and Futuna and north of Fiji. It is a very small island country of 26 km2 (10 sq mi). Due to the spread out islands it has the 38th largest Exclusive Economic Zone of 749,790 km2 (289,500 sq mi). In terms of size, it is the second-smallest country in Oceania.
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.
Tuvalu is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia, with a population of 11,192 per the 2017 census. The economy of Tuvalu is constrained by its remoteness and lack of economies of scale. Government revenues largely come from fishing licences ; direct grants from international donors ; and income from the Tuvalu Trust Fund. The lease of its highly fortuitous .tv Top Level Domain (TLD) also contributes revenue. The sale of stamps since the independence of Tuvalu in 1976 has been an important source of revenue for the country and government. However, such revenue has significantly declined in recent years. Tuvalu has hardly any tourism. It has no tour guides, tour operators, or organised activities, and no cruise ships visit.
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.
Fongafale is the largest of Funafuti's islets in Tuvalu. It is a long narrow sliver of land, 12 kilometres long and between 10 and 400 metres wide, with the South Pacific Ocean and reef on the east and the protected lagoon on the west. The north part is the Tengako peninsula, and Funafuti International Airport runs from northeast to southwest on the widest part of the island, with the village and administrative centre of Vaiaku on the lagoon side.
Nanumanga or Nanumaga is a reef island and a district of the Oceanian island nation of Tuvalu. It has a surface area of about 3 km2 with a population of 491.
Christianity is the predominant religion in Tuvalu, with Calvinism being the single largest denomination.
The Tuvalu Trust Fund is an international sovereign wealth fund established to benefit Tuvalu, a small, central Pacific island nation, by providing income to cover shortfalls in the national budget, underpin economic development, and help the nation achieve greater financial autonomy. The Tuvalu Trust Fund was established in 1987 by the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
Kausea Natano is a politician who served as the Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 19 September 2019 to 26 February 2024. He represented Funafuti as a Member of Parliament. He was first elected in the 2002 Tuvaluan general election and served as an MP until he was unseated in the 2024 Tuvaluan general election.
Renewable energy in Tuvalu is a growing sector of the country's energy supply. Tuvalu has committed to sourcing 100% of its electricity from renewable energy. This is considered possible because of the small size of the population of Tuvalu and its abundant solar energy resources due to its tropical location. It is somewhat complicated because Tuvalu consists of nine inhabited islands. The Tuvalu National Energy Policy (TNEP) was formulated in 2009, and the Energy Strategic Action Plan defines and directs current and future energy developments so that Tuvalu can achieve the ambitious target of 100% renewable energy for power generation by 2020. The program is expected to cost 20 million US dollars and is supported by the e8, a group of 10 electric companies from G8 countries. The Government of Tuvalu worked with the e8 group to develop the Tuvalu Solar Power Project, which is a 40 kW grid-connected solar system that is intended to provide about 5% of Funafuti’s peak demand, and 3% of the Tuvalu Electricity Corporation's annual household consumption.
Climate change is particularly threatening for the long-term habitability of the island country of Tuvalu, which has a land area of only 26 square kilometres (10 sq mi) and an average elevation of less than 2 metres (6.6 ft) above sea level, with the highest point of Niulakita being about 4.6 metres (15 ft) above sea level. Potential threats to the country due to climate change include rising sea levels, increasingly severe tropical cyclones, high temperatures, and drought. King tides can combine with storm surges and the rising sea level to inundate the low lying atolls.
The Funafuti Conservation Area is a marine conservation area covering 33 square kilometers of reef, lagoon and motu (islets) on the western side of Funafuti atoll in Tuvalu. The marine environment of the conservation area includes reef, lagoon, channel and ocean; and are home to many species of fish, corals, algae and invertebrates. The islets are nesting sites for the green sea turtle and Fualopa hosts a breeding colony of black noddy.
The Tuvalu Meteorological Service (TMS) is the principal meteorological observatory of Tuvalu and is responsible for providing weather services to the islands of Tuvalu. A meteorological office was established on Funafuti at the time the islands of Tuvalu were administered as parts of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony of the United Kingdom. The meteorological office is now an agency of the government of Tuvalu.
Agriculture in Tuvalu is based on coconut and swamp taro, , which is similar to taro but "with bigger leaves and larger, coarser roots"; taro is also cultivated in Tuvalu.
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.
Diplomatic relations between Australia and Tuvalu were established in 1978, with the independence of Tuvalu, and both countries are members of the Commonwealth of Nations which share a head of state, King Charles III. Australia has had a High Commission in Funafuti since 2018. Tuvalu is not currently represented in Australia at the high commissioner or consular level.
The coral reefs of Tuvalu consist of three reef islands and six atolls, containing approximately 710 km2 (270 sq mi) of reef platforms. The islands of the Tuvalu archipelago are spread out between the latitude of 5° to 10° south and longitude of 176° to 180°, west of the International Date Line. The islands of Tuvalu are volcanic in origin. On the atolls, an annular reef rim surrounds the lagoon, and may include natural reef channels. The reef islands have a different structure to the atolls, and are described as reef platforms as they are smaller tabular reef platforms that do not have a salt-water lagoon, although they may have a completely closed rim of dry land, with the remnants of a lagoon that has no direct connection to the open sea or that may be drying up.
Tuvalu National Council for Women (TNCW) is a Tuvaluan national council, which is the umbrella organisation for non-governmental women's rights groups in the country. The TNCW aims to enable gender equity in Tuvalu, through educational campaigns and through resourcing women to be informed about their economic, legal and social rights.
Protected areas of Tuvalu consist of protected areas located within the central Pacific country of Tuvalu and its territorial waters. One such area is the Funafuti Conservation Area, which is a marine protected area on the western reef area of Funafuti atoll.
