Country:  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:
 
Extended 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: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0%
forest and woodland; 100% other
 
Environment: severe tropical storms are rare
 
Note: located 3,000 km east of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean
 
- People
Population: 9,136 (July 1990), growth rate 2.0% (1990)
 
Birth rate: 30 births/1,000 population (1990)
 
Death rate: 10 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
 
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
 
Infant mortality rate: 33 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
 
Life expectancy at birth: 60 years male, 63 years female (1990)
 
Total fertility rate: 3.1 children born/woman (1990)
 
Nationality: noun--Tuvaluans(s); adjective--Tuvaluan
 
Ethnic divisions: 96% Polynesian
 
Religion: Christian, predominantly Protestant
 
Language: Tuvaluan, English
 
Literacy: less than 50%
 
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
 
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, ESCAP (associate member), GATT (de facto), SPF, SPC, 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-quality soil. The country has a small economy, 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 $2.59 million; expenditures $3.6 million,
including capital expenditures of NA (1983 est.)
 
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,
350 kWh per capita (1989)
 
Industries: fishing, tourism, copra
 
Agriculture: coconuts, copra
 
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $1 million; Western
(non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $84 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--1.2784 (January 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 radio receivers; 108 telephones
 
- Defense Forces
Branches: NA
 
Military manpower: NA
 
Defense expenditures: NA