The second smallest island nation in the world is facing a warming climate, rising sea levels, a grim situation, and a situation of national relocation.
geographical location
Tuvalu, formerly known as the Ellis Islands and also known as the Lagoon Islands, is located in the southern Central Pacific, southeast of the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the western Pacific, on the west side of the International Date Line. It is between 5°39′~10°45′ south latitude and 176°09′~179°51′ east longitude.
It consists of 9 atoll-shaped coral island groups, 8 of which are inhabited and Funafuti as the main island.
Tuvalu is bordered by Fiji to the south, Kiribati to the north and the Solomon Islands to the west.
With a land area of 26 square kilometers, it has a tropical maritime climate.
In 1892, Tuvalu and nearby Kiribati were declared British "protectorates".
In 1916, it was included in the "British Gilbert and Ellis Islands Colony".
In October 1975, it was legally separated from Kiribati and changed to its former name Tuvalu (meaning "group of eight islands").
Autonomous in June 1978 and independent on October 1, it is one of the world's least developed countries declared by the United Nations.
national flag
It was launched on April 11, 1997, and is the 6th edition. It is a horizontal rectangle with a ratio of length to width of 2:1.
The bottom of the flag is light blue. Blue symbolizes the sea and sky. In the upper left corner is the Union Jack, which occupies a quarter of the flag and symbolizes Tuvalu's relationship with the United Kingdom.
The nine yellow five-pointed stars on the right symbolize Tuvalu's nine circular coral archipelagos.
Anthem: "Tuvalu Belongs to God"
Capital: Funafuti
Population: 11,000 (2021)
Ninety-six per cent Tuvaluans are of Polynesian ethnicity. The rest are Kiribati, of European descent, etc.
Languages: English, Tuvaluan
Currency: Tuvaluan dollar, common Australian dollar
Total GDP: $60 million (2021)
GDP per capita: $5,830 (2021)
Diplomatic relations with China: None
View of Tuvalu