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Official Name -
Tuvalu
Land Area - 26 sq km - nine islands - 5 atolls and 4 coral islands
Population - 12,177 (2008 est.)
Capital - Fongafale
Main Atoll - Funafuti
Language - English, Tuvaluan (a Polynesian dialect); I-Kiribati (Gilbertese)
Currency - Australian Dollar (with Tuvaluan coins circulating on par with Australian coins)
EEZ - 757,000 sq km
Political system - Constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy.
National government - Cabinet of up to five members of parliament, appointed by the Governor General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
National legislature - A 15-member unicameral parliament or Palamene, also called House of Assembly, elected every four years.
Last election - August 2006
Next general election due - 2010
Head of State - Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Governor-General Rev Filoimea Telito
Head of Government - Hon Apisai Ielemia, Prime Minister
Key Ministers
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources
Hon Tavau Teii
Minister for Home Affairs
Hon Willy Telavi
Minister of Finance and Economic Planning
Hon Lotoala Metia
Minister of Communications and Works
Hon Taukelina Finikaso
Minister of Education and Sports
Hon Iakeba Italeli
Key Opposition MPs - No organised political parties.
Main political parties - There are no political parties but members usually align themselves in informal groupings.
GDP - US$26.7 million (2007)
GDP per capita -
US$2718 (2007)
Real GDP growth - 3% (2006 est)
Exports -
$12.91 million (2008 est)
Main Exports - Food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods
Imports - $1 million (2008 est)
Main Imports - Copra, fish
Inflation - 3.3 % (2007)
NZ Exports (FOB) -
NZ$3.296 million (July 2009)
Main Exports - Fuel, milk products, wood
NZ Imports (CIF) - NZ$15,000 (July 2009)
Main Imports -
Fishing tackle, melon peel
Tuvalu was part of the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands from 1892. Formerly the Ellice Islands, it was administered together with the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati) until 1975. This union, linking the Micronesians of the Gilbert Islands with the Polynesians of the Ellice Islands, was largely a colonial convenience. Tuvalu, which means “eight islands together”, became an independent constitutional monarchy on 1 October 1978, with Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State. In 1986 Tuvalu approved a new, locally written, Constitution. Tuvalu is ranked as the fourth smallest country in the world.
The eight islands, from north to south, are: Nanumea, Nanumaga, Niutao, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti (capital), and Nukulaelae. The ninth island, tiny Niulakita, was inhabited only since the 1950s by people from Niutao Island. Since the late 1940s, a Tuvaluan community has been living on the island of Kioa, off the east coast of Fiji's Vanua Levu, to avoid overcrowding on Vaitupu.
Most Tuvaluans are members of the Christian Church of Tuvalu (Ekalesia Kelisiano o Tuvalu), autonomous since 1968 and derived from the Congregationalist foundation of the London Missionary Society. Life, especially on the outer islands, revolves around religion.
Tuvalu has an elected fifteen-member legislative chamber. The legislature elects a Prime Minister, who then chooses up to ten MPs to join a Cabinet. The Governor-General is appointed by the Queen, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister who will have consulted with parliament.
In recent years, Tuvalu’s political situation has remained fluid with several changes of leadership. Following the August 2006 elections, Hon Apisai Ielemia was elected as Tuvalu’s tenth Prime Minister. The previous general election was in July 2002, when Hon Saufatu Sopoanga was appointed as Prime Minister. He was replaced as Prime Minister in 2004 by Maatia Toafa, after his party lost a no-confidence vote and Sopoanga resigned (he was re-elected in a by-election but took the role of deputy Prime Minister). Members of Parliament have close links to their island constituencies and are not organised into any formal political parties.
A comprehensive review of the programme of public sector reforms was initiated under the previous Government’s medium to long-term Vision 2015 development strategy. The reform programme included the reduction of government expenditure and the public service, corporatisation, facilitation of private sector development including the establishment of a new legislative framework for direct foreign investment, decentralisation of government to the outer islands, improving public sector performance, and further outer island development.
The Falekaupule Act gives island councils - comprised of traditional leaders - responsibility for managing their own finances from a budget allocated by central government. The Falekaupule Trust Fund, with initial capital of $12m (in two tranches over 1999 and 2000) was established in 1999 for this purpose. Funded by a loan from the Asian Development Bank, the Tuvalu Government agreed to match this loan from its own resources.
Despite severe development constraints, Tuvalu achieved an average real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 5.6 per cent per annum during 1996-2002, one of the best performances among Pacific Island economies. There has, however, been a slow down in growth since then. GDP grew 1.5% in 2008. Tuvalu’s heavy reliance on imported food and fuel meant it was hard hit by rapid rises in world prices in 2008 and inflation peaked at 13.4%.
Tuvalu is a United Nations’ designated Least Developed Country, in recognition of its small size, almost total lack of exploitable resources, very limited potential for economic development and vulnerability to external economic and environmental shocks.
Most Tuvaluans are involved in traditional subsistence agriculture and fisheries, which are highly susceptible to adverse weather conditions, notably climate change and rising sea levels. Around two thirds of the formal workforce is employed by the Government, leaving little room for private sector activity. Development of the economy is heavily reliant on overseas aid, traditionally from Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, and now, increasingly from Japan, the European Union and Taiwan.
The Tuvalu Trust Fund (TTF) plays an important part in the economy. The Fund was created out of donations from the governments of New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom and Tuvalu in 1987, and is regarded as a success though it has been recently been affected by the global economic crisis. With an initial capital of about NZ$30 million at independence, it now totals approximately A$100 million. Tuvalu is today the largest contributor. The capital is invested globally and distributions are paid back into the government’s consolidated account. At about 2.5 times GDP, the TTF has contributed approximately 11% of the annual government budget each year since 1990. This provides an important cushion for Tuvalu's highly variable income from fishing and royalties from the sale of the dot-TV domain.
Tuvalu has been able to capitalise on its fortune in having the right to the highly marketable internet domain name “.tv”. By selling rights to the suffix to California company Idealab for approximately NZ$55m over 12 years, and by retaining a 20 per cent share in the “dotTV” company, Tuvalu hopes to receive significant profits.
Fishing licence fees provide another important source of foreign exchange. Tuvalu has fishing licence agreements with Taiwan and Japan and is also party to the multilateral fishing agreement with the United States. Tuvalu has also sold shares in an international telecommunications venture which leases Tuvalu lines and markets them internationally.
Remittances from Tuvaluans employed overseas, particularly as seafarers on, have played a significant part in the economy, contributing approximately 10% of GDP.
There are no streams or rivers on Tuvalu, and groundwater is not potable; most water needs are met by catchment systems with storage facilities (the Japanese Government has built one desalination plant and plans to build one other). Other environmental concerns include erosion of sand dunes and coastline, excessive clearance of forest undergrowth for use as fuel, and damage to coral reefs from the spread of the Crown of Thorns starfish.
Tuvalu is concerned about global increases in greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on rising sea levels, which threaten the country’s underground water table. The highest point of elevated land in Tuvalu is between 4-5 metres, which provides the basis to their concerns regarding the effects of climate change and the threat of sea level rise. The fragility of the island group was underscored in 1997 when a damage assessment team estimated that approximately 6.7% of Tuvalu’s total land mass had been washed away by Cyclones Gavin and Hina.
The main focus of Tuvalu’s foreign policy is the Pacific region, but Tuvalu has become increasingly active in regional and international forums.
Tuvalu has a High Commission in Suva, and a mission in New York. Tuvalu signed a Treaty of Friendship with the United States in 1979 and has entered into diplomatic relations with a range of other countries including Japan and the Republic of Korea. Tuvalu has also maintained diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Tuvalu is a member of the United Nations (since 2000), the Commonwealth, the Pacific Islands Forum, the Forum Fisheries Agency, the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC), Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), South Pacific Board for Educational Assessment (SPBEA), South Pacific Tourism Council, and the University of the South Pacific.
Tuvalu is a member of the African Caribbean and Pacific group of developing countries associated with the European Community under the Lome Agreement (ACP), the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), and an associate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Tuvalu is a non-signatory user of the International Telecommunications Satellite Consortium (INTELSAT), a participant in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and a member of the Universal Postal Union (UPU).
Tuvalu is party to a number of international environmental agreements including those related to: the Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Shipping Pollution, Biodiversity and the Law of the Sea.A key factor in the bilateral relationship is the development cooperation programme between New Zealand and Tuvalu. New Zealand’s 2009/10 bilateral allocation for development cooperation in Tuvalu is NZ$3.0 million, rising to $4.0 million by 2011/12. Strategic priorities include (i) the Outer Islands Transport Project; a five year, six million dollar project which aims to improve safety and access to the 8 outer islands, primarily by constructing and upgrading reef channels (ii) a new Outer Islands Local Governance Project jointly funded with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), targeted at strengthening Tuvalu’s local government capability and (iii) early childhood education.
Funafuti’s only airlink is to Suva via a twice weekly Air Pacific flight.
The Safe Travel website provides a travel advisory for travellers to Tuvalu [external link].
