21 Telling Facts About Tuvalu
Formerly known as the Ellice Islands, Tuvalu (pronounced Too-vah-loo) is a beautiful archipelago in the Pacific Ocean.
Its nearest neighbours are Nauru, Federated States of Micronesia and Marshall Islands to the northwest, Kiribati to the northeast, Tokelau to the east, American Samoa and Niue to the southeast, Wallis and Futuna, Tonga and Fiji to the south, New Caledonia and Vanuatu to the southwest and Solomon Islands to the west.
If you fancy snorkelling around the glorious Tuvaluan coral reefs alongside dolphins, whales and fish, head for the coordinates of 8.5333° S, 179.2167° E!
The terrain here is low lying, narrow coral atolls.
In fact, the highest point on the islands is a mere 15 feet above sea level!
The total land area of Tuvalu is 10 square miles (26 square kilometres)…
…that’s around 2/3 the size of Truro, Cornwall.
Tuvalu’s population was 10,869 in 2015…
…that’s only slightly less than the population of Truro!
Residents here are known as Tuvaluans.
The capital is Funafuti; it covers an area of 0.9 square miles (2.4 square kilometres) and had a population of 6,000 in 2014.
Tuvaluans enjoy a tropical climate which is moderated by trade winds between March and November, with gales and heavy rain commonplace from November to March.
As a collective of coral atolls that have risen out of the sea, Tuvalu has no endemic species of mammal, although early settlers brought mice, rats and dogs with them.
The official languages of Tuvalu are Tuvaluan, English and Samoan.
Tuvaluan Dollar became the official currency in 1976, although it is used alongside the Australian Dollar which was previously the official currency. Interestingly, the Pound Sterling and US Dollar have also been official currencies of Tuvalu in the past.
Tuvaluans live for an average of 66 years.
Tuvalu actually came under British jurisdiction in 1877 and was finally granted independence almost 100 years later in 1976.
As a country, Tuvalu grows coconuts and catches fish.
Its industry consists of tourism, fishing and copra.
This wonderful country exports fish and copra.
In 2000, Tuvalu struck a 12 year deal with Verisign worth $50,000,000 US Dollars for the use of the country’s .tv internet domain!