Tuvalu

Official nameState of Tuvalu
Name in local languageTuvalu (tvl) ; State of Tuvalu (en)
ContinentOceania
SubcontinentOceania
Population (ranking: 240e)9,605 inhabitants (2019)
Population growth-1.69 % / year
Area26 km²
Density374.76 inhabitants / km²
GDP (ranking: 244e)0.043 billions $USD (2018)
GDP/capita (ranking)3,701 $USD (2018)
GDP growth2.50 % / year (2018)
Life expectancy (ranking)67.20 years (2018)
Birth rate23.70 ‰ (2018)
Fertility rate2.93 children / woman (2018)
Death rate (ranking)8.40 ‰ (2018)
Infant mortality rate (ranking)28.20 ‰ (2018)
Literacy rate99.00 % (2002)
Official languagesTuvaluan, English
CurrencyTuvaluan dollar (TV$), Australian dollar ($ AUD)
HDI (ranking: 143e)0.711 / 1 (2008)
EPI (ranking)0.00 (2018)
GovernmentUnitary non-partisan parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Head of StateQueen Elizabeth II ; Governor-General Iakoba Italeli
National Day1 October (independence of 1978)
ISO CodesTV, TUV
DemonymTuvaluan
Tourists (ranking)2,000 people (2017)
Tuvalu – petite

Tuvalu is a Polynesian archipelago located in the Pacific Ocean, south of Kiribati and northern Fiji. It has been independent since 1978. Comprising nine coral atolls all inhabited, the country is dramatically facing global climate change.

Funafuti atoll, Tuvalu
Funafuti atoll, Tuvalu. Photo: Anne-Sophie Roux

Sea levels are rising and threatening to overwhelm the atolls, which are barely above sea level. The surface area of the islands (25,63 km2) is shrinking, leaving less and less place to live. And forces people to flee from the threat of engulfment. The population is currently declining at a rate of -1.69% per year.

Beach in Funafuti, Tuvalu
Beach in Funafuti, Tuvalu

The situation is therefore potentially catastrophic, and major work is to be undertaken to raise the level of land, if the country does not want to be completely evacuated. Major works of which the country can not finance only the execution, its means being very limited.

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Urban areas (2019)
Urban areasPopulation
Funafuti7,000 inhabitants
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See also