Tuvalu

Airports

1 with runway 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

no major transport aircraft

Highways

8 km gravel

Merchant marine

1 passenger-cargo (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,043 GRT/450 DWT

Ports

Funafuti, Nukufetau

Telecommunications

stations--1 AM, no FM, no TV; 300 radiotelephones; 4,000 radios; 108 telephones

Branches

Police Force

Defense expenditures

$NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability

NA

Agriculture

coconuts, copra

Budget

revenues $4.3 million; expenditures $4.3 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1989)

Currency

Tuvaluan dollar and Australian dollar (plural--dollars); 1 Tuvaluan dollar ($T) or 1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents

Economic aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $1 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $96 million

Electricity

2,600 kW capacity; 3 million kWh produced, 330 kWh per capita (1990)

Exchange rates

Tuvaluan dollars ($T) or Australian dollars ($A) per US$1--1.2834 (January 1991), 1.2799 (1990), 1.2618 (1989), 1.2752 (1988), 1.4267 (1987), 1.4905 (1986), 1.4269 (1985)

Exports

$1.0 million (f.o.b., 1983 est.); commodities--copra; partners--Fiji, Australia, NZ

External debt

$NA

Fiscal year

NA

GNP

$4.6 million, per capita $530; real growth rate NA% (1989 est.)

Imports

$2.8 million (c.i.f., 1983 est.); commodities--food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods; partners--Fiji, Australia, NZ

Industrial production

growth rate NA

Industries

fishing, tourism, copra

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

3.9% (1984)

Overview

Tuvalu consists of a scattered group of nine coral atolls with poor soil. The country has 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.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Climate

tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March)

Coastline

24 km Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm; Territorial sea: 12 nm

Comparative area

about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC

Environment

severe tropical storms are rare

Land boundaries

none

Land use

arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures 0%; forest and woodland 0%; other 100%

Natural resources

fish

Note

located 3,000 km east of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean

Terrain

very low-lying and narrow coral atolls

Total area

26 km2; land area: 26 km2

Administrative divisions

none

Capital

Funafuti

Constitution

1 October 1978

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador (vacant); US--none

Executive branch

British monarch, governor general, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet

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

Independence

1 October 1978 (from UK; formerly Ellice Islands)

Judicial branch

High Court 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)

Legislative branch

unicameral Parliament (Palamene)

Long-form name

none

Member of

ACP, C (special), ESCAP, SPC, SPF, UPU

National holiday

Independence Day, 1 October (1978)

Political parties and leaders

none

Suffrage

universal at age 18 Parliament--last held 28 September 1989 (next to be held by September 1993); results--percent of vote NA; seats--(12 total)

Type

democracy

Birth rate

29 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate

10 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic divisions

96% Polynesian

Infant mortality rate

33 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force

NA

Language

Tuvaluan, English

Life expectancy at birth

61 years male, 63 years female (1991)

Literacy

NA% (male NA%, female NA%)

Nationality

noun--Tuvaluans(s); adjective--Tuvaluan

Net migration rate

0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor

none

Population

9,317 (July 1991), growth rate 1.9% (1991)

Religion

Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1.4%, Baha'i 1%, other 0.06%

Total fertility rate

3.1 children born/woman (1991)