Vaitupu is the largest atoll of the nation of Tuvalu. It is located at 7.48 degrees south and 178.83 degrees east. There are 1,061 people (2017 Census) living on 5.6 square kilometres (2.2 square miles) with the main village being Asau. (Full article...)
Various names were given to individual islands by the captains and chartmakers on visiting European ships. In 1819 the island of Funafuti, was named Ellice's Island; the name Ellice was applied to all nine islands, after the work of English hydrographer Alexander George Findlay. (Full article...)
His work in cultural and social anthropology extended to researching and recording the music and dance of the Pacific Islands. He collaborated with Dieter Christensen, a music-ethnologist, on The Music of the Ellice Islands (German: Die Musik der Ellice-Inseln) (1964) and Koch also published the Songs of Tuvalu (translated by Guy Slatter) (2000). In Tuvalu he was also known as 'Keti'. (Full article...)
Saufatu SopoangaOBE (22 February 1952 – 15 December 2020) was a Tuvaluan politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Tuvalu from 2 August 2002 to 27 August 2004. He drew international attention for his speeches warning about the effects of the rising sea level on Tuvalu and other low-lying island countries.
He later served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2004 to 2006. His younger brother Enele Sopoaga served as Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 2013 to 2019. (Full article...)
Image 8
The Law of Tuvalu comprises the legislation voted into law by the Parliament of Tuvalu and statutory instruments that become law; certain Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom (during the time Tuvalu was either a British protectorate or British colony); the common law; and customary law (particularly in relation to the ownership of land). The land tenure system is largely based on kaitasi (extended family ownership). (Full article...)
For 2010, the total health budget was AUD $4,696,042. (Full article...)
Image 11
The traditional music of Tuvalu consists of dances, including fatele, fakanau and fakaseasea. The influence of the Samoan missionaries sent to Tuvalu by the London Missionary Society from the 1860s resulted in the suppression of songs about the traditional religions or magic and many songs were lost. As the influence of the missionaries diminished in the 20th century the traditional dances were revived and the siva dance tradition from Samoa also became popular.
Te titi tao is a traditional skirt placed upon another skirt - a titi kaulama - and tops (teuga saka), headbands, armbands, and wristbands continue to be used in performances of the fatele. (Full article...)
Tuvalu consists of nine separate islands: six atolls and three reef islands. An atoll typically consists of several motus: Tuvalu has a total of 124 islands and islets. Each island is surrounded by a coral reef. The soils of Tuvalu's islands are usually shallow, porous, alkaline, coarse-textured, with carbonate mineralogy and high pH values of up to 8.2 to 8.9. The soils are usually deficient in most of the important nutrients needed for plant growth, so garden beds need to be enhanced with mulch to increase their fertility. Tuvalu's small, widely scattered atolls have a total land area of only about 26 square kilometres (10 square miles) making Tuvalu the fourth-smallest country in the world.
The sea level at the Funafuti tide gauge has been rising at a rate of 3.9 mm per year, and it has been determined that rising sea levels are causing more wave energy to be transferred across reef surfaces, which has tended to push more sand onto island shorelines, increasing islands’ land area. Over a recent four-decade period, there was a net increase in the land area of the islets of 2.9% (73.5 ha), although the changes were not uniform: About 74% of them increased in size and about 27% decreased in size. (Full article...)
Image 14
Tuvalu competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which were held from 23 July to 8 August 2021. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their participation marked their fourth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics since their debut at the 2008 Summer Olympics. The Tuvaluan delegation consisted of the sprinters Karalo Maibuca and Matie Stanley, both of whom were competing in their first Olympics. Neither Maibuca nor Stanley managed to progress beyond the preliminary rounds of their events, although Maibuca set a Tuvaluan national record of 11.42 seconds in the men's 100 metres. (Full article...)
Image 15
Maatia ToafaOBE (born 1 May 1954) is a Tuvaluan politician, representing Nanumea, who served two non-consecutive terms as Prime Minister of Tuvalu. He first served as prime minister, and foreign minister, from 2004 to 2006, from the resignation of his predecessor, Saufatu Sopoanga, until the defeat of his Cabinet in the 2006 general election. From 2004 to 2006 he also held the role of foreign minister.
Image 10Main Street in Funafuti, (circa 1905). (from History of Tuvalu)
Image 111st Lt. Louis Zamperini, peers through a hole in his B-24D Liberator 'Super Man' made by a 20mm shell over Nauru, 20 April 1943. (from History of Tuvalu)
Image 31Polynesia is the largest of three major cultural areas in the Pacific Ocean. Polynesia is generally defined as the islands within the Polynesian triangle. (from History of Tuvalu)
Image 36The atoll of Funafuti; borings into a coral reef and the results, being the report of the Coral Reef Committee of the Royal Society (1904). (from History of Tuvalu)
Cyclone Bebe passed over Funafuti on October 21 & 22, 1972. It knocked down 90% of the houses and trees and caused extensive damage to Princess Margaret Hospital and other public buildings.