"text":"In 1974, ethnic differences within the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands caused the Polynesians of the Ellice Islands to vote for separation from the Micronesians of the Gilbert Islands. The following year, the Ellice Islands became the separate British colony of Tuvalu. Independence was granted in 1978. In 2000, Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name \".tv\" for $50 million in royalties over a 12-year period. The agreement was subsequently renegotiated but details were not disclosed. Tuvalu hosted the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in August 2019."
}
},
"Geography":{
"Location":{
"text":"Oceania, island group consisting of nine coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about half way from Hawaii to Australia"
"text":"over half of the population resides on the atoll of Funafuti"
},
"Natural hazards":{
"text":"severe tropical storms are usually rare, but in 1997 there were three cyclones; low levels of islands make them sensitive to changes in sea level"
},
"Environment - current issues":{
"text":"water needs met by catchment systems; the use of sand as a building material has led to beachhead erosion; deforestation; damage to coral reefs from increasing ocean temperatures and acidification; rising sea levels threaten water table; in 2000, the government appealed to Australia and New Zealand to take in Tuvaluans if rising sea levels should make evacuation necessary"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"none of the selected agreements"
}
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"one of the smallest and most remote countries on Earth; six of the nine coral atolls - Nanumea, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, and Nukulaelae - have lagoons open to the ocean; Nanumaya and Niutao have landlocked lagoons; Niulakita does not have a lagoon"
"text":"Tuvaluan 86.8%, Tuvaluan/I-Kiribati 5.6%, Tuvaluan/other 6.7%, other 0.9% (2012 est.)"
},
"Languages":{
"text":"Tuvaluan (official), English (official), Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui)"
},
"Religions":{
"text":"Protestant 92.4% (Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu 85.7%, Brethren 3%, Seventh Day Adventist 2.8%, Assemblies of God .9%), Baha'i 2%, Jehovah's Witness 1.3%, Mormon 1%, other 3.1%, none 0.2% (2012 est.)"
"text":"7 island councils and 1 town council*; Funafuti*, Nanumaga, Nanumea, Niutao, Nui, Nukufetau, Nukulaelae, Vaitupu"
},
"Independence":{
"text":"1 October 1978 (from the UK)"
},
"National holiday":{
"text":"Independence Day, 1 October (1978)"
},
"Constitution":{
"history":{
"text":"previous 1978 (at independence); latest effective 1 October 1986"
},
"amendments":{
"text":"proposed by the House of Assembly; passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote by the Assembly membership in the final reading; amended 2007, 2010, 2013"
}
},
"Legal system":{
"text":"mixed legal system of English common law and local customary law"
},
"International law organization participation":{
"text":"has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt"
},
"Citizenship":{
"citizenship by birth":{
"text":"yes"
},
"citizenship by descent only":{
"text":"yes; for a child born abroad, at least one parent must be a citizen of Tuvalu"
},
"dual citizenship recognized":{
"text":"yes"
},
"residency requirement for naturalization":{
"text":"na"
}
},
"Suffrage":{
"text":"18 years of age; universal"
},
"Executive branch":{
"chief of state":{
"text":"Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Iakoba TAEIA Italeli (since 16 April 2010)"
},
"head of government":{
"text":"Prime Minister Kausea NATANO (since 19 September 2019)"
},
"cabinet":{
"text":"Cabinet appointed by the governor general on recommendation of the prime minister"
},
"elections/appointments":{
"text":"the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on recommendation of the prime minister; prime minister and deputy prime minister elected by and from members of House of Assembly following parliamentary elections"
"text":"unicameral House of Assembly or Fale I Fono (16 seats; members directly elected in single- and multi-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 4-year terms)"
},
"elections":{
"text":"last held on 9 September 2019 (next to be held on September 2023)"
},
"election results":{
"text":"percent of vote - NA; seats - independent 16 (9 members reelected)"
}
},
"Judicial branch":{
"highest courts":{
"text":"Court of Appeal (consists of the chief justice and not less than 3 appeals judges); High Court (consists of the chief justice); appeals beyond the Court of Appeal are heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (in London)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"Court of Appeal judges appointed by the governor general on the advice of the Cabinet; judge tenure based on terms of appointment; High Court chief justice appointed by the governor general on the advice of the Cabinet; chief justice serves for life; other judges appointed by the governor general on the advice of the Cabinet after consultation with chief justice; judge tenure set by terms of appointment"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"magistrates' courts; island courts; land courts"
}
},
"Political parties and leaders":{
"text":"there are no political parties but members of parliament usually align themselves in informal groupings"
"text":"none; the Tuvalu Permanent Mission to the UN serves as the Embassy; it is headed by Samuelu LALONIU (since 21 July 2017); address: 685 Third Avenue, Suite 1104, New York, NY 10017; telephone: [1] (212) 490-0534; FAX: [1] (212) 808-4975"
"text":"light blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the outer half of the flag represents a map of the country with nine yellow, five-pointed stars on a blue field symbolizing the nine atolls in the ocean"
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"maneapa (native meeting house); national colors: light blue, yellow"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"Tuvalu mo te Atua\" (Tuvalu for the Almighty)"
"text":"<p>Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of nine coral atolls with poor soil. Only eight of the atolls are inhabited. It is one of the smallest countries in the world, with its highest point at 4.6 meters above sea level. The country is isolated, almost entirely dependent on imports, particularly of food and fuel, and vulnerable to climate change and rising sea levels, which pose significant challenges to development.</p><p></p><p>The public sector dominates economic activity. Tuvalu has few natural resources, except for its fisheries. Earnings from fish exports and fishing licenses for Tuvalu’s territorial waters are a significant source of government revenue. In 2013, revenue from fishing licenses doubled and totaled more than 45% of GDP.</p><p></p><p>Official aid from foreign development partners has also increased. Tuvalu has substantial assets abroad. The Tuvalu Trust Fund, an international trust fund established in 1987 by development partners, has grown to $104 million (A$141 million) in 2014 and is an important cushion for meeting shortfalls in the government's budget. While remittances are another substantial source of income, the value of remittances has declined since the 2008-09 global financial crisis, but has stabilized at nearly $4 million per year. The financial impact of climate change and the cost of climate related adaptation projects is one of many concerns for the nation.</p>"
"text":"<p><strong>note:</strong> most people make a living through exploitation of the sea, reefs, and atolls - and through overseas remittances (mostly from workers in the phosphate industry and sailors)</p>"
"text":"internal communications needs met; small global scale of over 11,000 people on 9 inhabited islands; mobile subscriber penetration about 40% and broadband about 10% penetration; govt. owned and sole provider of telecommunications services; 2G widespread; the launch in 2019 of the Kacific-1 satellite will improve the telecommunication sector for the Asia Pacific region (2020)"
"note":"<br><br><strong>note:</strong> the COVID-19 outbreak is negatively impacting telecommunications production and supply chains globally; consumer spending on telecom devices and services has also slowed due to the pandemic's effect on economies worldwide; overall progress towards improvements in all facets of the telecom industry - mobile, fixed-line, broadband, submarine cable and satellite - has moderated"
"text":"no TV stations; many households use satellite dishes to watch foreign TV stations; 1 government-owned radio station, Radio Tuvalu, includes relays of programming from international broadcasters (2019)"
