Nearby Users
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Tuvalu
local long form: none
local short form: Tuvalu
former: Ellice Islands
note: "Tuvalu" means "group of eight," referring to the country's eight traditionally inhabited islands
26 km²
Funafuti
Australian dollar (AUD); note - there is also a Tuvaluan dollar
688
.tv
Tuvaluan, English, Samoan, Kiribati
Church of Tuvalu, Seventh-Day Adventist, Baha'i
11,992
constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy
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 symbolizing the nine islands
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.
tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March)
