Tuvalu is situated in the South Pacific. Southeast of the Marshall Islands and Kiribati and North of Fiji and New Zealand. It is barely a spec on the world map.
Tuvalu is a fully independent island nation within the Commonwealth.
The country consists of 3 reef islands and 9 atolls. The population is 10,643 (consensus 2022). This makes it the 2nd least populous country in the world (behind the Vatican City).
A Disappearing Country
Tuvalu is a low-lying island nation and is extremely vulnerable to sea level rise. The highest point is a mere 15′ above sea level making it one of the countries most threatened by climate change.
Rising sea levels not only push back its shorelines, but the encroaching salt water also erodes the country’s limited farmland. The sea’s warming temperatures also threaten surrounding marine life.
The country made international headlines in 2021 when then-foreign minister Simon Kofe delivered a speech to the United Nations while standing knee-deep in water.
Because there is not a significant amount of soil the country has to rely heavily on imports and fishing for food.
During our visit we got to witness their attempt to save their island.
Australia and New Zealand invested close to $100 million to add 40 acres of land. A massive amount of machinery. It starts with dredging the lagoon, then filtering sand, creating enormous sand mounds, then filling huge sand bags. They then use the sand bags to create barriers between the shore and lagoon (bottom photo).
Income Sources
The local government has several income sources. However, two of them are their largest revenue stream.
The first is from fishing licenses. Like many other Pacific Nations, Tuvalu sells fishing licenses to other countries. This gives international companies the rights to fish in the Tuvalu waters.
The second source of revenue is from a digital source. The government owns the suffix .tv. So their email and web addresses end in .tv. For example, christine.mitchell@tuvalu.tv.
As a brilliant move, the government sold its .tv internet suffix to a Californian company. This brings in several million dollars a year in continuing revenue. The California company then sells the suffix to television broadcasters.
Many locals harvest copra or work on cargo ships and send money back to their families
We arrived in Tuvalu a few days after they christened their very 1st ATM! Can you believe it? This cash only country had no ATM.
Funafuti Marine Conservation
20% of the lagoon in Funafuti is a marine conservation area covering 33sq kilometers (12.74 sq. miles).
The conservation area consists of reef, lagoon, and motus on the western side of the atoll (gray area in image).
Many species of fish, coral, algae, and invertebrates call this area home including the endangered green sea turtle.
Tuvalu Airport
For being such a small country it has a really nice airport.
The landing strip has been newly paved making it the nicest we’ve seen in years.
Fiji Link flies three times a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) to and from Fiji and Tuvalu. It is a big event when the plane comes so we took the opportunity to watch it a few times.
Children use the runway as a playground when in between flights.
WWII
Thousands of U.S. troops were stationed in Tuvalu during WWII. They used used Tuvalu as a launching place to attack the Japanese in Kiribati.
It is not uncommon to find WWII remnants on the beaches and reefs in Funafuti the capital of Tuvalu.
Beginning in 1942, U.S. forces built airbases on the islands of Funafuti, Nanumea, and Nukufetau. The Funafuti airstrip is still in use.
The Navy built a sea port, a small hospital, PT boat base, a seaplane base and an airbase.
Interesting Websites
We managed to find the “town drunk” who was super jovial and willing to share his jug of vodka coke with Matt
Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events. We were in Tuvalu from April 18-25, 2025.
Check out Tuvalu on No Foreign Land: www.noforeignland.com/place/6056779874041856
Can you believe we had a double steering failure on our passage from the Marshall Islands?