TUVALU
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 26 km2; land area: 26 km2
Comparative area: about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 24 km
Maritime claims:
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to
November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March)
Terrain: very low-lying and narrow coral atolls
Natural resources: fish
Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures
0%; forest and woodland 0%; other 100%
Environment: severe tropical storms are rare
Note: located 3,000 km east of Papua New Guinea in the South
Pacific Ocean
PEOPLE
Population: 9,317 (July 1991), growth rate 1.9% (1991)
Birth rate: 29 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 10 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 33 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 61 years male, 63 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 3.1 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Tuvaluans(s); adjective--Tuvaluan
Ethnic divisions: 96% Polynesian
Religion: Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%, Seventh-Day
Adventist 1.4%, Baha'i 1%, other 0.06%
Language: Tuvaluan, English
Literacy: NA% (male NA%, female NA%)
Labor force: NA
Organized labor: none
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: none
Type: democracy
Capital: Funafuti
Administrative divisions: none
Independence: 1 October 1978 (from UK; formerly Ellice Islands)
Constitution: 1 October 1978
National holiday: Independence Day, 1 October (1978)
Executive branch: British monarch, governor general, prime
minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament (Palamene)
Judicial branch: High Court
Leaders:
Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952),
represented by Governor General Tupua LEUPENA (since 1 March 1986);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Bikenibeu PAENIU (since 16
October 1989); Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Alesana SELUKA (since October
1989)
Political parties and leaders: none
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
Parliament--last held 28 September 1989 (next to be held by
September 1993);
results--percent of vote NA;
seats--(12 total)
Member of: ACP, C (special), ESCAP, SPC, SPF, UPU
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador (vacant);
US--none
Flag: 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
ECONOMY
Overview: Tuvalu consists of a scattered group of nine coral atolls
with poor soil. The country has no known mineral resources and few
exports. Subsistence farming and fishing are the primary economic
activities. The islands are too small and too remote for development of
a tourist industry. Government revenues largely come from the sale of
stamps and coins and worker remittances. Substantial income is received
annually from an international trust fund established in 1987 by
Australia, New Zealand, and the UK and supported also by Japan and South
Korea.
GNP: $4.6 million, per capita $530; real growth rate NA%
(1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.9% (1984)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $4.3 million; expenditures $4.3 million,
including capital expenditures of $NA (1989)
Exports: $1.0 million (f.o.b., 1983 est.);
commodities--copra;
partners--Fiji, Australia, NZ
Imports: $2.8 million (c.i.f., 1983 est.);
commodities--food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured
goods;
partners--Fiji, Australia, NZ
External debt: $NA
Industrial production: growth rate NA
Electricity: 2,600 kW capacity; 3 million kWh produced,
330 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: fishing, tourism, copra
Agriculture: coconuts, copra
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $1
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-87), $96 million
Currency: Tuvaluan dollar and Australian dollar (plural--dollars);
1 Tuvaluan dollar ($T) or 1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Tuvaluan dollars ($T) or Australian dollars ($A)
per US$1--1.2834 (January 1991), 1.2799 (1990), 1.2618 (1989), 1.2752
(1988), 1.4267 (1987), 1.4905 (1986), 1.4269 (1985)
Fiscal year: NA
COMMUNICATIONS
Highways: 8 km gravel
Ports: Funafuti, Nukufetau
Merchant marine: 1 passenger-cargo (1,000 GRT or over) totaling
1,043 GRT/450 DWT
Civil air: no major transport aircraft
Airports: 1 with runway 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: stations--1 AM, no FM, no TV; 300
radiotelephones; 4,000 radios; 108 telephones
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Police Force
Manpower availability: NA
Defense expenditures: $NA, NA% of GDP