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  • Capital Funafuti (8°31´S, 179°12´E)
  • International airport(s) Funafuti International Airport, Funafuti
  • Official language(s) Tuvaluan, English
  • Currency Tuvaluan Dollar (TVD), Australian Dollar (AUD)
  • Time UTC +12
  • Region Pacific
GeographyClimateEconomyCulture
The small island country of Tuvalu, formerly known as the Ellice Islands, consists of three reef islands and six atolls with a total land area of only 30 km2. This makes Tuvalu as the fourth smallest country in the world in terms of land area. Tuvalu is situated approximately halfway between Hawaii and Australia. The islands lie only 4 to 5 m above sea level. Because the soils are porous, agriculture is limited, and fresh water is provided by rain and wells only.
Tuvalu has a hot, humid and rainy equatorial climate with two seasons. The wet season lasts from November to April and the dry season from May to October, with average rainfall below 250 mm per month during the dry season. Precipitation is plentiful, exceeding 3 000 mm per year. The prevailing winds are from the southeast, while westerly storms occur from November to February. Temperatures are very stable throughout the year at 28‐29 °C each month, around 25 °C at night and 31 °C during the day. Water temperature is always 29‐30 °C. -—
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Tuvalu is occasionally affected by the tropical cyclones of the South Pacific.
The economy of Tuvalu suffers from its remoteness and lack of economies of scale. Farming, for instance of coconut palms, and fishing remain prominent economic activities, accounting for about one fifth of GDP. Important export partners include Japan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the United States of America. Remittances from male Tuvaluans working overseas in maritime industries contributed 9 per cent to GDP in 2019 -—
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. The government produces revenue mostly from selling fishing licenses and from grants from international donors. The sale of stamps has been an important, but declining, source of revenue for the country and the government. Tuvalu has hardly any tourism. Its economic and environmental vulnerability is the third highest among the SIDS and in the world -—
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Culture in Tuvalu underpins the ability of the people of Tuvalu to live and thrive in an island environment. The communities in Tuvalu have actively engaged in the cultural production of a variety of handicrafts, such as mats, baskets, fans, shell necklaces and costumes for traditional performances. These handicrafts are designed for daily use by the community but are increasingly sought after as gifts by tourists.

Falekaupule, the traditional island meeting hall, is an important place for cultural events. They are used for wedding celebrations and community activities such as a fatele, a traditional dance song of Tuvalu, involving music, singing and dancing. A traditional sport played in Tuvalu is kilikiti, which is similar to cricket. Another popular sport specific to Tuvalu is Ano, which is a localised version of volleyball. Tuvalu entered the Olympic Games for the first time at the 2008 Summer Games in weightlifting and track and field by taking part in the 100 m sprint.
Land areakm2
Arable land%
Forest area%
Coastline
lengthkm
Exclusive economic zonekm2
Nearest
neighbourkm
Economic trendsMaritime transportPopulationInternational tradeEnvironmentInformation and communications technology
Gross domestic product
US dollars at constant prices (2015) in millions
GDP per capita

2019

US$

Productive Capacity Index

2018

Economic and environmental vulnerability index

2019

Consumer Price Index growth

2019

%

Unemployment
rate

Total %
Female %, Male %
Main economic sectors, 2019
Percentage of GDP
Tourist arrivals
Thousands of tourists, percentage of GDP
External financial resources
Percentage of GDP
Public debt as % of GDP

2018

%

Fleet size
Number of ships
Ship type20112019
Total fleet1 4071 407
Oil tankers264266
Bulk carriers311333
General cargo16177
Container ships5249
Other types of ships619682
Port performance
Ranked by 2019 data within SIDS group
Indicators2019SIDS Ranking
Number of port calls6934
Median time in port (days)11.21
Average age of vessels283
Average size (GT) of vessels4 04735
Container port throuput

2019

TEU

Bilateral connectivity index, 2019
Top 5 partners
Liner shipping connectivity index
Maximum China Q1 2006=100
Total population
Thousands of people, share of urban population
Population development indicators
IndicatorsPeriodValue
Poverty headcount (% of population)20103.3
Human development index2018..
Human assets index202087
Adult literacy rate (15+ years, both sexes %)....
Gender inequality index20100.7
Life expectancy at birth

years

Population density

2019

persons per km2
Dependency
ratio

2019

Child:
Old-age:
Age structure by gender, 2019
Percentage of total population
Merchandise and services trade
US dollars in millions
Indicators20052010201520192019 (% of GDP)
Merchandise exports00000
Merchandise imports1316373370.2
Services exports24400
Services imports10341600
Trade openness
Goods and services

% of GDP

Export concentration index

2019

Food import
dependency
Average 2015-2019

Top 5 partners in merchandise trade, 2019
Exports in millions US dollars
Merchandise exports by product group, 2019
Services exports by category, 2019
CO2 emissions per capita
Kg per capita
CO2 emissions per GDP
Kg per 2010 US$ of GDP
Renewable energy share in total energy consumption, 2017
Percentage of total energy consumption
Material
footprint
per capita

2016

kg

Terrestrial
protected
area

2018

%

Marine
protected
area

2018

%

Disasters indicators
Data not available
Trade in ICT goods

Exports: %
Imports: %
Trade in ICT services

Exports: %
Imports: %
Share of
internet users

%

Fixed broadband vs Mobile broadband subscriptions
Number of subscriptions per 100 people
Sources
Source of data: -—
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except indicators listed below.
References
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