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Tuvalu


Islands of Tuvalu

Tuvalu (ⁱ/tuːˈvɑːluː/ too-VAH-loo or /ˈtuːvəluː/ TOO-və-loo), formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. It comprises three reef islands and six true atolls spread out between the latitude of 5° to 10° south and longitude of 176° to 180°, west of the International Date Line. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. Tuvalu has a population of about 10,837 people (2012). The total land area of the islands of Tuvalu is 26 square kilometres (10 sq mi).

The first inhabitants of Tuvalu were Polynesians. The pattern of settlement that is believed to have occurred is that the Polynesians spread out from Samoa and Tonga into the Tuvaluan islands, with Tuvalu providing a stepping stone to migration into the Polynesian Outlier communities in Melanesia and Micronesia.

In 1568 Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña was the first European to sail through the archipelago. In 1568 during his first voyage he sighted Nui and during his second voyage in 1595 he sailed past Niulakita. In 1819 the island of Funafuti was named Ellice's Island; the name Ellice was applied to all nine islands. The islands were declared a British Protectorate by Captain Gibson of HMS Curacoa in 1892; then administered as part of the British Western Pacific Territories; and from 1916 to 1974 as part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony.

The result of the Ellice Islands self-determination referendum, 1974 was that the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony ceased to exist on 1 January 1976 and the separate British colonies of Kiribati and Tuvalu came into existence. Tuvalu became fully independent within the Commonwealth on 1 October 1978. On 17 September 2000 Tuvalu became the 189th member of the United Nations.

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The effect of Climate change in Tuvalu will be significant as the average height of the islands is 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. Tuvalu could be one of the first nations to experience the effects of sea level rise. Not only could parts of the islands be flooded but the rising saltwater table could also destroy deep rooted food crops such as coconut, pulaka, and taro.

Tuvalu participates in the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and joined with other Pacific Island countries in signing the Majuro Declaration in 2013 to advance responsible leadership to address the adverse effects of global climate change. (More...)

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Sir Iakoba Italeli, GCMG, was appointed the Governor-General of Tuvalu on 16 April 2010. From 2006 to 2010 he was Minister of Education and Sports, and Health, in the government of the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Apisai Ielemia.

Italeli was elected to represent Nui in the Parliament of Tuvalu on a non-partisan basis; this lack of alignment is not unusual in the politics of Tuvalu; unusually for Tuvalu, Italeli represented a constituency where trilingualism is a feature, since many inhabitants of Nui originate from Kiribati, and thus speak Gilbertese, in addition to Tuvaluan and English, the fluency of which varies among local people.

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Tengako peninsula

The Tengako peninsula is at the north end of Fongafale islet of Funafuti atoll. At the end of the peninsula is Amatuku islet on which the Tuvalu Maritime Training Institute is located.

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Christianity came to Tuvalu in 1861 when Elekana, a deacon of a Congregational church in Manihiki, Cook Islands became caught in a storm and drifted for 8 weeks before landing at Nukulaelae on 10 May 1861.

Trading companies were active in Tuvalu from about 1850 to 1910; the companies engaged palagi traders who lived on the islands. The last of the palagi traders were Fred Whibley on Niutao, Alfred Restieaux on Nukufetau and Martin Kleis on Nui.

Cyclone Bebe passed over Funafuti on October 21 & 22, 1972. It knocked down 90% of the houses and trees and caused extensive damage to Princess Margaret Hospital and other public buildings.

On March 10 & 11, 2015 tidal surges, estimated to be 3–5 m (9.8–16.4 ft), that were caused by Cyclone Pam, swept across Nui, Nanumea, Nanumanga, Niutao, Nukufetau, Nukulaelae, and Vaitupu; with Nui suffering the most damage.

There are only 2 high schools in Tuvalu: Motufoua Secondary School, a boarding school on Vaitupu and Fetuvalu High School, a day school operated by the Church of Tuvalu, on Funafuti.

A traditional sport played in Tuvalu is kilikiti, which is similar to cricket.

At the 2013 Pacific Mini Games, Tuau Lapua Lapua from Nanumanga won Tuvalu's first ever gold medal in an international competition in the men's 62 kilogram snatch. (He also won bronze in the clean and jerk, and obtained the silver medal overall for the combined event.)