Tuvalu (formerly known as the Ellice Islands) – sovereignPolynesianisland nation located in the South Pacific Ocean midway between Hawaiʻi and Australia.[1] Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Samoa and Fiji. Comprising three reef islands and six true atolls with a gross land area of just 26 square kilometers (10 sq mi) it is the third-least populated independent country in the world, with only Vatican City and Nauru having fewer inhabitants. It is also the second-smallest member by population of the United Nations. In terms of physical land size, Tuvalu is the fourth smallest country in the world, larger only than the Vatican City—0.44 km2; Monaco—1.95 km2 and Nauru—21 km2. Tuvalu's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers an oceanic area of approximately 900,000 km2.[2]
Tuvalu was first sighted by Europeans on 16 January 1568 during the voyage of Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira from Spain who is understood to have sighted the island of Nui. Mendaña made contact with the islanders but was unable to land.[3] During Mendaña's second voyage across the Pacific he passed Niulakita on 29 August 1595.[3][4] Captain John Byron passed through the islands of Tuvalu in 1764 during his circumnavigation of the globe as captain of HMS Dolphin.[5]
Keith S. Chambers and Doug Munro (1980) identify Niutao as the island that Francisco Mourelle de la Rúa sailed past on 5 May 1781, thus solving what Europeans had called The Mystery of Gran Cocal.[4][6] Mourelle's map and journal named the island El Gran Cocal ('The Great Coconut Plantation'); however, the latitude and longitude was uncertain.[6] Longitude could only be reckoned crudely as accurate chronometers were available until the late 18th century. Visits to the islands became more frequent in the 19th century.
The islands came under Britain's sphere of influence in the late 19th century. The Ellice Islands were administered by Britain as a protectorate as part of the British Western Pacific Territories from 1892 to 1916 and as part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony from 1916 to 1974. In 1974 the Ellice Islanders voted for separate British dependency status for Tuvalu, separating from the Gilbert Islands which became Kiribati upon independence. Tuvalu became fully independent within The Commonwealth in 1978. On 17 September 2000 Tuvalu became the 189th member of the United Nations.
Etymology: From first settlement, eight of the nine islands of Tuvalu were inhabited; thus the name, Tuvalu, means "eight standing together" in Tuvaluan (compare to *walo meaning "eight" in Proto-Austronesian).
Military of Tuvalu
There is no military in Tuvalu. Its national police force, the Tuvalu Police Force headquartered in Funafuti, includes a maritime surveillance unit, customs, prisons and immigration.
Tuvalu island tales (A Tale of two Islands) (Director: Michel Lippitsch) 34 minutes - YouTube video.
The Disappearing of Tuvalu: Trouble in Paradise (2004) by Christopher Horner and Gilliane Le Gallic.[12]
Paradise Drowned: Tuvalu, the Disappearing Nation (2004) Written and produced by Wayne Tourell. Directed by Mike O'Connor, Savana Jones-Middleton and Wayne Tourell.[13]
Going Under (2004) by Franny Armstrong, Spanner Films.[11]
Before the Flood: Tuvalu (2005) by Paul Lindsay (Storyville/BBC Four).[11]
Time and Tide (2005) by Julie Bayer and Josh Salzman, Wavecrest Films [14]
Tuvalu: That Sinking Feeling (2005) by Elizabeth Pollock from PBSRough Cut
Atlantis Approaching (2006) by Elizabeth Pollock, Blue Marble Productions [15]
King Tide | The Sinking of Tuvalu (2007) by Juriaan Booij.[16]
Tuvalu (Director: Aaron Smith, ‘Hungry Beast’ program, ABC June 2011) 6:40 minutes - YouTube video
Tuvalu: Renewable Energy in the Pacific Islands Series (2012) Global Environment Facility (GEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) 10 minutes – YouTube video.
Mission Tuvalu (Missie Tuvalu) (2013) feature documentary directed by Jeroen van den Kroonenberg.[17]
ThuleTuvalu (2014) by Matthias von Gunten, HesseGreutert Film/OdysseyFilm.[18]
Bibliographyedit
Bibliography of Tuvalu
Further readingedit
Lonely Planet Guide: South Pacific & Micronesia, by various. ISBN 1786572184 ISBN 978-1786572189
Bennetts, Peter and Tony Wheeler, Time & Tide: The Islands of Tuvalu, Lonely Planet (2001) ISBN 1864503424 ISBN 978-1864503425
Chalkley, John, Vaitupu – An Account of Life on a Remote Polynesian Atoll, Matuku Publications (1999)ISBN 9780953487608 ISBN 0953487601
Ells, Philip, Where the Hell is Tuvalu? Virgin Books (2008) ISBN 0753511304 ISBN 978-0753511305
Watling, Dick, A Guide to the Birds of Fiji and Western Polynesia: Including American Samoa, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Wallis and Futuna, Environmental Consultants (Fiji) Ltd; 2nd edition (2003) ISBN 9829030040 ISBN 9789829030047
Randy Thaman, Feagaiga Penivao, Faoliu Teakau, Semese Alefaio, Lamese Saamu, Moe Saitala, Mataio Tekinene and Mile Fonua (2017). "Report on the 2016 Funafuti Community-Based Ridge-To-Reef (R2R)" (PDF). Rapid Biodiversity Assessment of the Conservation Status of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BES) In Tuvalu. Retrieved 25 May 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Customs and Traditions
Brady, Ivan, Kinship Reciprocity in the Ellice Islands, Journal of the Polynesian Society 81:3 (1972), 290–316
Brady, Ivan, Land Tenure in the Ellice Islands, in Henry P. Lundsaarde (ed). Land Tenure in Oceania, Honolulu, University Press of Hawaii (1974) ISBN 0824803213 ISBN 9780824803216
Chambers, Keith & Anne Chambers Unity of Heart: Culture and Change in a Polynesian Atoll Society (January 2001) Waveland Pr Inc. ISBN 1577661664 ISBN 978-1577661665
Koch, Gerd, Die Materielle Kulture der Ellice-Inseln, Berlin: Museum fur Volkerkunde (1961); The English translation by Guy Slatter, was published as The Material Culture of Tuvalu, University of the South Pacific in Suva (1981) ASIN B0000EE805.
History
Hedley, Charles (1896). "General account of the Atoll of Funafuti" (PDF). Australian Museum Memoir. 3 (2): 1–72. doi:10.3853/j.0067-1967.3.1896.487.
Tuvalu: A History (1983) Isala, Tito and Larcy, Hugh (eds.), Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific and Government of Tuvalu
Suamalie N.T. Iosefa, Doug Munro, Niko Besnier, Tala O Niuoku, Te: the German Plantation on Nukulaelae Atoll 1865–1890 (1991) Published by the Institute of Pacific Studies. ISBN 9820200733
Pulekai A. Sogivalu, Brief History of Niutao, A, (1992) Published by the Institute of Pacific Studies. ISBN 982020058X
Vaiaso ote Gana, Tuvalu Language Week Education Resource 2016 (New Zealand Ministry for Pacific Peoples)
Besnier, Niko, Literacy, Emotion and Authority: Reading and Writing on a Polynesian Atoll, Cambridge University Press (1995) ISBN 0521485398 ISBN 978-0521485395
Besnier, Niko, Tuvaluan: A Polynesian Language of the Central Pacific. (Descriptive Grammars) (2000) Routledge ISBN 0415024560 ISBN 978-0415024563
Jackson, Geoff W. & Jenny Jackson, Introduction to Tuvaluan, An (1999) ISBN 9829027023 ISBN 978-9829027023.
Jackson, Geoff W., Te Tikisionale O Te Gana Tuvalu, A Tuvaluan-English Dictionary (1994) Suva, Fiji, Oceania Printers. ASIN: B0006F7FNY.
Kennedy, Donald Gilbert, Te ngangana a te Tuvalu – Handbook on the language of the Ellice Islands (1946) Websdale, Shoosmith, Sydney N.S.W.
Music and Dance
Christensen, Dieter, Old Musical Styles in the Ellice Islands, Western Polynesia, Ethnomusicology, 8:1 (1964), 34–40
Christensen, Dieter and Gerd Koch, Die Musik der Ellice-Inseln, Berlin: Museum fur Volkerkunde (1964)
Koch, Gerd, Songs of Tuvalu (translated by Guy Slatter), Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific (2000) ISBN 9820203147 ISBN 978-9820203143
^Dr A J Tilling & Ms E Fihaki (17 November 2009). Tuvalu National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan(PDF). Fourth National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity. p. 7.
^ abMaude, H.E. (1959). "Spanish Discoveries in the Central Pacific: A Study in Identification". 68 (4) The Journal of the Polynesian Society. pp. 284–326.
^ abKeith S. Chambers & Doug Munro (1980). The Mystery of Gran Cocal: European Discovery and Mis-Discovery in Tuvalu. 89(2) The Journal of the Polynesian Society. pp. 167–198.
^"Circumnavigation: Notable global maritime circumnavigations". Solarnavigator.net. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
^ abLaumua Kofe (1983). Tuvalu: A History, Palagi and Pastors, Ch. 15. Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific and Government of Tuvalu.
^"Tuvalu: Millennium Development Goal Acceleration Framework – Improving Quality of Education" (PDF). Ministry of Education and Sports, and Ministry of Finance and Economic Development from the Government of Tuvalu; and the United Nations System in the Pacific Islands. April 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.