Tag Archives: Tuvalu

Co-extensive state with the archipelago of the same name (former Ellice Islands, in English, Lagoon Islands), in the Pacific Ocean, to the S of the Fiji Islands. It includes the atolls of Nanumea, Nanumanga, Niutao, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, Nukulaelae and Niulakita. Inhabited since the beginning of the first millennium BC, the archipelago was reached by European explorers in 1568, with the arrival of the Spanish Alvaro de Mendana y Neyra. From that date, only slave traders and whale hunters landed on the islands occasionally. Tuvalu at the end of the 19th century became part of the British protectorate of the Gilbert Islands, officially acquiring the name of “Ellice Islands”. The protectorate became a colony in 1915. In 1974, ethnic differences within the colony prompted the Ellice Polynesians to vote for separation from the Micronesians of the Gilberts (who would later become Kiribati).). The following year, the Ellice Islands became a British colony of its own, taking the name of Tuvalu, to gain independence in 1978. According to COUNTRYAAH, Tuvalu is a nation in Oceania, the capital city of which is Funafuti. The latest population of Tuvalu is 11,287.

TUVALU
Independent within the Commonwealth British, Tuvalu is a constitutional monarchy; the British sovereign, head of state, is represented in the country by a governor, appointed by the king on the advice of the prime minister, who is responsible for exercising executive power. The prime minister is elected by the local unicameral parliament, which holds legislative power and is renewed every 4 years by popular vote. The administration of justice is delegated to the High Court, the supreme body, to which disputes of the courts of the various islands and the courts of magistrates are addressed.Tuvalu does not have a regular army, but there is a local police force in the country. Education is compulsory and free from 7 to 15 years of age and the illiteracy rate in the country is on average low (5%, according to the latest estimate of 1998).

GEOGRAPHY
The country extends, with its almost aligned islands, for 560 km on a flat surface made up of coral constructions, created around craters of now extinct volcanoes located just below sea level. The climate is hot and humid all year round, with average temperatures of 29 ºC mitigated by moderate winds from the east and 3000 mm of rain per year, the strongest in the period from November to March.