Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Capital: Funafuti.

Language: Tuvaluan, English.

Currency: Dollar Tuvaluan and Australian dollar.

Extension: 26 KM2

Population: 11,922 inhabitants.

Time zone: UTC +12.



After the Vatican is the independent nation with fewer inhabitants. It is also a member of the United Nations with fewer people. Because of its low elevation (up to 5 m), the islands of this nation are threatened by any future increase in sea level. The population can be evacuated during the next decades to New Zealand, or Niue, a tiny Pacific island (independent but associated with New Zealand) that is not threatened by rising sea levels, but has a low birth rate. Its climate is tropical marine, moderated by easterly trade winds from March to November, the remaining months with abundant rainfall and vegetation typically consists of palm trees.

• General: Geography:As one of the smallest countries in the world, in fact, the smaller room, Tuvalu also has very poor lands. No drinking water, and earth is scarcely usable for agriculture. Although technically Tuvalu has no administrative subdivision of the population is too small (estimated at 11,000 in 2004) - the country can be divided into 9 islands, or rather atolls halfway between Hawaii and Australia. Originally, only eight of these islands were inhabited, hence the name Tuvalu which means "eight islands" Tuvaluan language. The nine islands are: Funafuti, Nanumea, Nanumanga, Niutao, Niu, Niulakita, Nukufetau, Nukulaelae and Vaitupu.



  In 2001 the government of Tuvalu said that the islands, of which the highest point is 5 meters, would be evacuated in case of sea level rise.

New Zealand has agreed to accept an annual quota of 75 evacuees, while Australia refused requests, probably because of their rejection of the Kyoto Protocol.



Economy: Tuvalu dollar has the same value as the Australian dollar, which also circulates in the islands (in 2002, 1.84 Australian dollars equaled one U.S. dollar). The economy, the least dynamic of any independent state in the world, is based on subsistence farming, raising pigs and poultry and fish is increasingly important, although the only export is copra (coconut pith used for oil extraction). Much of government revenues derived from the sale of stamps and coins, foreign investment and income refer migrants working abroad underpin the economy.

This was a very important shot in 2000 after the release of the letters of enrollment (TV, which had been granted a year earlier by the International Telecommunication Union) for use on the Internet, a U.S. company. Tuvalu has an airport and a port of entry, both on the atoll of Funafuti, and only 8 miles of unpaved road.



History: Tuvalu, inhabited since the early first millennium BC
was discovered by the Spanish in 1568, with the arrival of Alvaro de Mendana and Neyra. Slave traders and whalers often visited the islands. In 1892, the islands became a British protectorate of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. The protectorate became a colony in 1915.
 The ancestors of Tuvaluan people are believed to have arrived on the islands about 2000 years ago. Under the leadership of chiefs, known as 'Aliki', traditional Tuvaluan society continued for hundreds of years before it underwent significant changes with the arrival of European traders in the 1820's.
Even greater changes took places when the Samoan Pastor of the London Missionaries Society arrived in the 1860's. Tuvaluans soon embraced the new faith and virtually all of the people are now Christians, mostly Protestants. Religion plays an important part in everyday life, although much of the previous culture and traditions are retained.
Tuvalu (then known as the Ellice Islands) first came under British jurisdiction in 1877. In 1892 Tuvalu became as a colony. In 1975, following over-whelming support for separation in accordance to referendum held the previous year, the country became an independent constitutional monarchy and the 38th member of the commonwealth on October 1, 1978.
Tuvalu is classified by the United Nations as one of the world's peaceful least developed countries. Tuvalu has recently been accepted and elected as the 189th Member State of the United Nations for the New Millennium.

Tourism:One of the smallest and most remote nations in the world, this unspoiled corner of the Pacific offers a peaceful, and non-commercialized environment that is ideal for rest and relaxation.

The spectacular marine environment consisting of a vast expanse of ocean interspersed with atolls, magnificent lagoons, coral reefs and small islands all provide a unique South Seas area.

In Tuvalu you will discover a distinctive Polynesian culture of atoll island people who vigorously maintain their unique social organization, art, crafts, architecture, music, dance and legends.