Tuvalu Facts, Tuvalu Flag -- National Geographic

Fast Facts

Population:: 10,000
Capital:: Funafuti; 6,000
Area:: 26 square kilometers (10 square miles)
Language:: Tuvaluan, English, Samoan
Religion:: Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist), Seventh-Day Adventist, Baha'l
Currency:: Australian dollar, Tuvaluan dollar
Life Expectancy:: 66
GDP per Capita:: U.S. $1,100
Literacy Percent:: NA

This cluster of South Pacific atolls, once part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony, achieved independence from Britain and joined the Commonwealth in 1978. Farming is limited due to poor soils and lack of fresh water. Mainstays are fishing, sales of copra and postage stamps, and remittances from Tuvaluans working abroad. Revenue also comes from a trust fund created by the U.K. and Pacific-area sponsors.

ECONOMY

Industry: Fishing, tourism, copra
Agriculture: Coconuts; fish
Exports: Copra, fish

—Text From National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition

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