The Funafuti Conservation Area is a marine conservation area covering 33 square kilometers (12.74 square miles) of reef, lagoon and motu (islets) on the western side of Funafuti atoll in Tuvalu. The marine environment of the conservation area includes reef, lagoon, channel and ocean; and are home to many species of fish, corals, algae and invertebrates. The islets are nesting sites for the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) and Fualopa hosts a breeding colony of black noddy (Anous minutes).
The decision to create a protected area (Kogatapu) was made in 1999; the purpose of the Funafuti Conservation Area is the conservation of the marine and land based biodiversity (plants, animals and ecosystems) within the protected area. The boundaries of the Funafuti Conservation Area encompass about 20 percent of the total coral reef area of Funafuti lagoon (Te Namo), and is an important part of the protection of the coral reefs of Tuvalu. (Full article...)
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Tuvalu face legal difficulties not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Sections 153, 154 and 155 of the Penal Code outlaw male homosexual intercourse with a penalty of up to 14 years in prison, but the law is not enforced. Employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation has been banned since 2017. Since 2023, the Constitution of Tuvalu has banned same-sex marriage.
Climate change is particularly threatening for the long-term habitability of the island country of Tuvalu, which has a land area of only 26 square kilometres (10sqmi) and an average elevation of less than 2 metres (6.6ft) above sea level, with the highest point of Niulakita being about 4.6 metres (15ft) above sea level. Potential threats to the country due to climate change include rising sea levels, increasingly severe tropical cyclones, high temperatures, and drought. King tides (Perigean spring tide) can combine with storm surges and the rising sea level to inundate the low lying atolls.
Tuvalu is widely considered one of the first countries likely to be significantly impacted by rising sea levels due to global climate change. According to some estimates, the highest tides could regularly flood 50% of the land area of national capital Funafuti by the mid-21st century, and 95% by 2100. The rising saltwater table could also destroy deep rooted food crops such as coconut, pulaka, and taro before they're overtaken by actual flooding. Meanwhile, one 2018 study from the University of Auckland suggested that Tuvalu may remain habitable over the next century, finding that the country's islands have even grown in area overall in recent decades, though the authors stressed that "Climate change remains one of the single greatest environmental threats to the livelihood and well-being of the peoples of the Pacific" and that "Sea-level rise and climatic change threaten the existence of atoll nations". (Full article...)
The population of Tuvalu is approximately 10,645 people (2017 Mini Census), but there are estimated to be more than 13,000 Tuvaluan speakers worldwide. In 2015 it was estimated that more than 3,500 Tuvaluans live in New Zealand, with about half that number born in New Zealand and 65 percent of the Tuvaluan community in New Zealand is able to speak Tuvaluan. (Full article...)
Image 8
Sport is an important part of Tuvaluan culture, which sporting culture is based on traditional games and athletic activities and the adoption of some of the major international sports of the modern era.
Parliamentary elections were held in Tuvalu on 16 September 2010. Voters elected fifteen members of the Parliament to a four-year term. All candidates were independents, as there are no political parties in the country. Ten out of the fifteen incumbent members were re-elected. The remaining five incumbents, including Deputy Prime Minister Tavau Teii, did not retain their seats. The incumbent Prime Minister, Apisai Ielemia, retained his seat in Vaitupu constituency. On 29 September, Maatia Toafa from Nanumea won eight of the fifteen votes to become Prime Minister.
Tuvalu Telecommunications Corporation (TTC) is a state-owned enterprise of Tuvalu, which provides fixed-line telephone communications to subscribers on each of the islands of Tuvalu. Each island in Tuvalu relies on TTC for the use of a satellite dish for inter-island telephone communication and internet access. TTC also provides mobile phone services on Funafuti and Vaitupu. TTC is the sole provider of Telecommunications in Tuvalu. TTC is established by the Tuvalu Telecommunications Corporation Act 1993. (Full article...)
Image 14
Sir Tomu Malaefone Sione, GCMG,OBE (17 November 1941 – April 2016), was a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu. He worked as a journalist from 1962 to 1968, and held the post of radio announcer in the Broadcasting and Information Department of the administration of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony (GEIC). He was the head of the southern Niutao clan. He was married to Segali. (Full article...)
Image 15
Tuvalu consists of nine separate islands: six atolls and three reef islands. An atoll typically consists of several motus: Tuvalu has a total of 124 islands and islets. Each island is surrounded by a coral reef. The soils of Tuvalu's islands are usually shallow, porous, alkaline, coarse-textured, with carbonate mineralogy and high pH values of up to 8.2 to 8.9. The soils are usually deficient in most of the important nutrients needed for plant growth, so garden beds need to be enhanced with mulch to increase their fertility. Tuvalu's small, widely scattered atolls have a total land area of only about 26 square kilometres (10 square miles) making Tuvalu the fourth-smallest country in the world.
The sea level at the Funafuti tide gauge has been rising at a rate of 3.9mm per year, and it has been determined that rising sea levels are causing more wave energy to be transferred across reef surfaces, which has tended to push more sand onto island shorelines, increasing islands’ land area. Over a recent four-decade period, there was a net increase in the land area of the islets of 2.9% (73.5 ha), although the changes were not uniform: About 74% of them increased in size and about 27% decreased in size. (Full article...)
Image 3The atoll of Funafuti; borings into a coral reef and the results, being the report of the Coral Reef Committee of the Royal Society (1904). (from History of Tuvalu)
Image 151st Lt. Louis Zamperini, peers through a hole in his B-24D Liberator 'Super Man' made by a 20mm shell over Nauru, 20 April 1943. (from History of Tuvalu)
Image 18Polynesia is the largest of three major cultural areas in the Pacific Ocean. Polynesia is generally defined as the islands within the Polynesian triangle. (from History of Tuvalu)
Image 19A portrait of a woman on Funafuti in 1894 by Count Rudolf Festetics de Tolna. (from History of Tuvalu)
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Portal:Tuvalu, and is written by contributors.
Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.