Tuvalu (Ellis Islands) is a Pacific state in Polynesia. It borders the territorial waters of Kiribati to the north and northeast, the territorial waters of Tokelau to the east, the waters of Samoa and the Wallis and Futuna Islands to the southeast, the waters of Fiji to the south, and the waters of the Solomons to the southwest and west. Islands. The length of the coastal strip is 21 km. Tuvalu is located on 5 atolls and 4 islands of the Tuvalu archipelago. The total land area is 26 km2. The population of the country is 12,177 people.
The capital is Funafuti. Currency – Tuvalu dollar, Australian dollar. Religion – Christianity.
The Polynesian state of Tuvalu is a cluster of atolls and islands located in the Pacific Ocean just south of the equator. The country’s capital, Funafuti Atoll City, is located 1,050 km north of Suva, the capital of Fiji, and 4,000 km northeast of Sydney, Australia’s largest city.
The climate of Tuvalu is hot, tropical, influenced by the southeast trade winds. There are two distinct seasons – the rainy season and the dry season. The wet season, during which up to 60% of precipitation falls, lasts from November to April, and the dry season – from May to October. Tuvalu has a wetter climate than the Gilbert Islands to the north and the Fiji Islands to the south. In the northern islands of the country, the climate is more arid than in the southern ones and they are more prone to droughts, which can last up to three months. The air temperature throughout the year remains high up to +32*C.
Tuvalu Tourism
According to CLOTHINGEXPRESS, the tourism sector of Tuvalu’s economy is rather poorly developed, and the number of tourists arriving in the country remains quite low compared to other countries in Oceania. The reason for this may be several factors, the main of which are poor air communication with other countries of the world and the high cost of flights, the poor quality of services provided (including the underdevelopment of the hotel sector). Nevertheless, there are prerequisites for the development of ecotourism in Tuvalu.
Tuvalu is the least visited country. It is the fourth country in the list of the smallest countries in the world. Tuvalu is halfway between Australia and Hawaii and is predicted to be the first country to disappear underwater when global warming raises sea levels high enough. It is also very difficult to get here – expensive flights from Fiji. Tuvalu is visited by a total of 1100 tourists a year. Poor air communication with other countries of the world and the high cost of flights, the poor quality of the tourism services provided. The archipelago is visited by citizens of Japan, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand.
In 2003, 1,377 people visited the islands. The main flow of tourists is directed to the Funafuti Atoll, where the country’s only hotel and other tourist accommodations are located.
Interesting facts
The islands were discovered by the Spanish navigator Alvaro Mendaña de Neira in 1568.
The early history of the archipelago is very poorly understood. The islands of Tuvalu were probably settled in 300-500 AD by people from the islands of Tonga and Samoa. But a cave with traces of a hearth found on the island of Nanumanga may indicate that the archipelago was colonized earlier. The Spanish navigator Alvaro Mendanya de Neira, who sailed past the islands in 1568, became the European discoverer of Tuvalu. The traveler called the archipelago the Islands of the Lagoons.
Until the 18th century, Tuvalu went unnoticed by other sailors. Only in 1788 some of the islands were discovered by English captains Thomas Gilbert and John Marshall. In 1819, the island of Tuvalu was surveyed from the Canadian ship Rebecca, whose captain named the archipelago the Ellis Islands in honor of the owner of the ship. In 1892, the archipelago became the British protectorate of Ellis Island, and in 1916 it became part of the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands.
In a 1974 referendum, the Polynesian population of the Ellice Islands voted to secede from the Micronesian Gilbert Islands (later Kiribati), and the following year the archipelago became a separate British colony of Tuvalu. The islands gained independence in 1978.
