The Gilbertese National Party ( GNP ) was a political party in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony founded in 1965. It was the first ever party in this British colony.
115-564: Racial tensions between Gilbertese and Ellice Islanders became more pronounced at the end of 1964. A small group of Gilbertese, most of them senior civil servants, began meeting in private with the view to forming a political party committed to the defense of Gilbertese interests. A public meeting with more than 200 participants attended to the foundation in Bairiki, South Tarawa , on 16 October 1965. The Gilbertese National Party called for faster change and two years later, its leader Reuben Uatioa
230-622: A London Missionary Society (LMS) school in Samoa, before beginning his work in establishing the Church of Tuvalu . In 1865, the Rev. Archibald Wright Murray of the LMS, a Protestant congregationalist missionary society, arrived as the first European missionary; he also evangelised among the inhabitants of Tuvalu. By 1878 Protestantism was considered well established, as there were preachers on each island. In
345-689: A Spanish navigator who commanded the San Pedro y San Pablo , the San Pedrico and the tender or yacht, Los Tres Reyes Magos during the 1605–1606 expedition led by Pedro Fernandes de Queiros in quest of the Southern Continent, proved the existence of a passage south of New Guinea, now known as Torres Strait . Commenting on this in 1622, the Dutch cartographer and publisher of Queiros' eighth memorial, Hessel Gerritsz , noted on his Map of
460-788: A resident commissioner to administer the Ellice Islands as part of the British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT). From 1916 to 1975, they were managed as part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony. A referendum was held in 1974 to determine whether the Gilbert Islands and Ellice Islands should each have their own administration. As a result, the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony legally ceased to exist on 1 October 1975; on 1 January 1976,
575-469: A beguiling tableau of the Terra Australis, or Southern Continent: The number of inhabitants in the Southern Continent is probably more than 50 millions, considering the extent, from the eastern part discovered by Juan Fernandez, to the western coast seen by Tasman, is about 100 deg. of longitude, which in the latitude of 40 deg. amounts to 4596 geographic, or 5323 stature miles [8567 km]. This
690-500: A consequence of the referendum, separation occurred in two stages. The Tuvaluan Order 1975, which took effect on 1 October 1975, recognised Tuvalu as a separate Crown Colony with its own government. The second stage occurred on 1 January 1976, when separate administrations were created out of the civil service of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony. In 1976, Tuvalu adopted the Tuvaluan dollar , whose currency circulates alongside
805-419: A dry season from May to October. Westerly gales and heavy rain are the predominant weather conditions from November to April, the period that is known as Tau-o-lalo , with tropical temperatures moderated by easterly winds from May to October. Tuvalu experiences the effects of El Niño and La Niña , which is caused by changes in ocean temperatures in the equatorial and central Pacific. El Niño effects increase
920-685: A large landmass in the south as a counterweight to the known landmasses in the Northern Hemisphere. As new lands were discovered, they were often assumed to be parts of the hypothetical continent. The German cosmographer and mathematician Johannes Schöner (1477–1547) constructed a terrestrial globe in 1515, based on the world map and globe made by Martin Waldseemüller and his colleagues at St. Dié in Lorraine in 1507. Where Schöner departs most conspicuously from Waldseemüller
1035-521: A large continent. On his second voyage he circumnavigated the globe at a very high southern latitude , at some places even crossing the Antarctic Circle , showing that any possible southern continent must lie well within the cold polar areas. There could be no extension into regions with a temperate climate , as had been thought before. In 1814, Matthew Flinders published the book A Voyage to Terra Australis . Flinders had concluded that
1150-483: A method for measuring longitude. Over the centuries the idea of Terra Australis gradually lost its hold. In 1616, Jacob Le Maire and Willem Schouten 's rounding of Cape Horn proved that Tierra del Fuego was a relatively small island, while in 1642 Abel Tasman 's first Pacific voyage proved that Australia was not part of the mythical southern continent. Much later, James Cook circumnavigated and charted New Zealand in 1770, showing that even it could not be part of
1265-618: A process of decolonisation; as a consequence, the British colonies in the Pacific started on a path to self-determination . In 1974, the ministerial government was introduced to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony through a change to the Constitution. In that year a general election was held, and a referendum was held in 1974 to determine whether the Gilbert Islands and Ellice Islands should each have their own administration. As
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#17327826313751380-465: A shore camp on Sakalua islet of Nukufetau , where coal was used to melt down the whale blubber. Christianity came to Tuvalu in 1861 when Elekana , a deacon of a Congregational church in Manihiki , Cook Islands , became caught in a storm and drifted for eight weeks before landing at Nukulaelae on 10 May 1861. Elekana began preaching Christianity. He was trained at Malua Theological College,
1495-415: A significant amount of soil, so the country relies heavily on imports and fishing for food. Licensing fishing permits to international companies, grants and aid projects, and remittances to their families from Tuvaluan seafarers who work on cargo ships are important parts of the economy. Because it is a low-lying island nation, the country is extremely vulnerable to sea level rise due to climate change . It
1610-493: A single trader. In the 1890s, structural changes occurred in the operation of the Pacific trading companies; they moved from a practice of having traders resident on each island to instead becoming a business operation where the supercargo (the cargo manager of a trading ship) would deal directly with the islanders when a ship visited an island. After the high point in the 1880s, the numbers of palagi traders in Tuvalu declined;
1725-610: A small strait; New Guinea ; and what would come to be called Australia . In Ortelius's atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum , published in 1570, Terra Australis extends north of the Tropic of Capricorn in the Pacific Ocean. As long as it appeared on maps at all, the continent minimally included the unexplored lands around the South Pole , but generally much larger than the real Antarctica , spreading far north – especially in
1840-465: A total land area of only about 26 square kilometres (10 square miles) making it the fourth smallest country in the world . The highest elevation is 4.6 metres (15 ft) above sea level on Niulakita ; however the low-lying atolls and reef islands of Tuvalu are susceptible to seawater flooding during cyclones and storms. The sea level at the Funafuti tide gauge has risen at 3.9 mm per year, which
1955-459: Is a greater extent than the whole civilized part of Asia, from Turkey to the eastern extremity of China. There is at present no trade from Europe thither, though the scraps from this table would be sufficient to maintain the power, dominion, and sovereignty of Britain, by employing all its manufacturers and ships. Whoever considers the Peruvian empire, where arts and industry flourished under one of
2070-489: Is active in international climate negotiations as part of the Alliance of Small Island States . The origins of the people of Tuvalu are addressed in the theories regarding the migration into the Pacific that began about 3,000 years ago. During pre-European-contact times, there was frequent canoe voyaging between the nearer islands including Samoa and Tonga . Eight of the nine islands of Tuvalu were inhabited. This explains
2185-714: Is an island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean , about midway between Hawaii and Australia . It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands (which belong to the Solomon Islands ), northeast of Vanuatu , southeast of Nauru , south of Kiribati , west of Tokelau , northwest of Samoa and Wallis and Futuna , and north of Fiji . Tuvalu is composed of three reef islands and six atolls spread out between
2300-470: Is approximately twice the global average. However, over four decades, there had been a net increase in land area of the islets of 73.5 ha (2.9%), although the changes are not uniform, with 74% increasing and 27% decreasing in size. A 2018 report stated that the rising sea levels are identified as creating an increased transfer of wave energy across reef surfaces, which shifts sand, resulting in accretion to island shorelines. The Tuvalu Prime Minister objected to
2415-688: Is in his globe's depiction of an Antarctic continent, called by him Brasilie Regio. His continent is based, however tenuously, on the report of an actual voyage: that of the Portuguese merchants Nuno Manuel and Cristóvão de Haro to the River Plate , and related in the Newe Zeytung auss Presillg Landt ("New Tidings from the Land of Brazil") published in Augsburg in 1514. The Zeytung described
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#17327826313752530-543: Is now Kiribati . The United States Marine Corps landed on Funafuti on 2 October 1942, and on Nanumea and Nukufetau in August 1943. Funafuti was used as a base to prepare for the subsequent seaborne attacks on the Gilbert Islands ( Kiribati ) that were occupied by Japanese forces. The islanders assisted the American forces to build airfields on Funafuti, Nanumea and Nukufetau and to unload supplies from ships. On Funafuti,
2645-437: Is seldom visited. The terra Australis begins at two or three degrees below the equator and it is said by some to be of such magnitude that if at any time it is fully discovered they think it will be the fifth part of the world. Adjoining Guinea on the right are the numerous and vast Solomon Islands which lately became famous by the voyage of Alvarus Mendanius. Juan Fernandez , sailing from Chile in 1576, claimed he had discovered
2760-692: The Australian dollar , which was previously adopted in 1966. Elections to the House of Assembly of the British Colony of Tuvalu were held on 27 August 1977, with Toaripi Lauti being appointed chief minister in the House of Assembly of the Colony of Tuvalu on 1 October 1977. The House of Assembly was dissolved in July 1978, with the government of Toaripi Lauti continuing as a caretaker government until
2875-677: The British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT), by a Resident Commissioner based in the Gilbert Islands. The administration of the BWPT ended in 1916, and the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony was established, which existed until October 1975. During the Second World War , as a British colony the Ellice Islands were aligned with the Allies . Early in the war, the Japanese invaded and occupied Makin , Tarawa and other islands in what
2990-614: The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992, and ratified it in December 2002. The predominant vegetation type on the islands of Tuvalu is the cultivated coconut woodland, which covers 43% of the land. The native broadleaf forest is limited to 4.1% of the vegetation types. Tuvalu contains the Western Polynesian tropical moist forests terrestrial ecoregion. The eastern shoreline of Funafuti Lagoon on Fongafale
3105-646: The German cursive script , Locach and Boeach look similar. A feature known as the "Province of Beach" or "Boeach" – from the Latin Provincia boëach – appears on European maps as early as the 15th century. On a map of the world published in Florence in 1489 by Henricus Martellus , the Latin name provincia boëach is given to a southern neighbour of Champa. In a 1532 edition of Marco Polo's Travels , Locach
3220-605: The Pacific Ocean . New Zealand , first seen by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1642, was regarded by some as a part of the continent. A map with a Terra Australis stretching from New Guinea to the South Pole and beyond was included in the 1676 application by Vittorio Riccio , an Italian missionary in Manila , to be appointed Prefect Apostolic of Terra Australis in order to initiate missionary activity there. His appointment
3335-602: The Renaissance , did not actually depict such a continent, but they did show an Africa which had no southern oceanic boundary (and which therefore might extend all the way to the South Pole), and also raised the possibility that the Indian Ocean was entirely enclosed by land. Christian thinkers did not discount the idea that there might be land beyond the southern seas, but the issue of whether it could be inhabited
3450-399: The Solomon Islands , Tonga and Vanuatu ) launched the "Port Vila Call for a Just Transition to a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific", calling for the phase out fossil fuels and the 'rapid and just transition ' to renewable energy and strengthening environmental law including introducing the crime of ecocide . Tuvalu experiences two distinct seasons, a wet season from November to April and
3565-685: The Terra Australis in his 1597 book, Descriptionis Ptolemaicae Augmentum : The terra Australis is therefore the southernmost of all other lands, directly beneath the antarctic circle; extending beyond the tropic of Capricorn to the West, it ends almost at the equator itself, and separated by a narrow strait lies on the East opposite to New Guinea, only known so far by a few shores because after one voyage and another that route has been given up and unless sailors are forced and driven by stress of winds it
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3680-506: The Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project . Sand was dredged from the lagoon to construct a platform on Fongafale islet that is 780 metres (2,560 ft) meters long and 100 metres (330 ft) meters wide, giving a total area of approximately 7.8 ha. (19.27 acres), which is designed to remain above sea level rise and the reach of storm waves beyond the year 2100. The platform starts from the northern boundary of
3795-501: The coral reefs through the introduction of foraminifera . The project of the Japan International Cooperation Agency is designed to increase the resilience of the Tuvalu coast against sea level rise, through ecosystem rehabilitation and regeneration and through support for sand production. The rising population has resulted in an increased demand on fish stocks, which are under stress, although
3910-468: The islands of Tuvalu . Te Ali (the flounder ) is believed to be the origin of the flat atolls of Tuvalu and te Pusi (the eel ) is the model for the coconut palms that are important in the lives of Tuvaluans. The stories of the ancestors of the Tuvaluans vary from island to island. On Niutao , Funafuti and Vaitupu , the founding ancestor is described as being from Samoa, whereas on Nanumea ,
4025-579: The latitude of 5° and 10° south and between the longitude of 176° and 180° . They lie west of the International Date Line . The 2017 census determined that Tuvalu had a population of 10,645, making it the second-least populous country in the world , behind Vatican City , and the least populous country where English is an official language. Tuvalu's total land area is 26 square kilometres (10 sq mi). The first inhabitants of Tuvalu were Polynesians arriving as part of
4140-548: The migration of Polynesians into the Pacific that began about three thousand years ago. Long before European contact with the Pacific islands , Polynesians frequently voyaged by canoe between the islands. Polynesian navigation skills enabled them to make elaborately planned journeys in either double-hulled sailing canoes or outrigger canoes . Scholars believe that the Polynesians spread out from Samoa and Tonga into
4255-650: The 15th and 18th centuries. Its existence was not based on any survey or direct observation, but rather on the idea that continental land in the Northern Hemisphere should be balanced by land in the Southern Hemisphere . This theory of balancing land has been documented as early as the 5th century on maps by Macrobius , who uses the term Australis on his maps. Other names for the hypothetical continent have included Terra Australis Ignota , Terra Australis Incognita ("the unknown land of
4370-492: The 1890s. In the early 1800s, British explorer Matthew Flinders popularized the naming of Australia after Terra Australis , giving his rationale that there was "no probability" of finding any significant land mass anywhere more south than Australia. The continent that would come to be named Antarctica would be explored decades after Flinders' 1814 book on Australia, which he had titled A Voyage to Terra Australis , and after his naming switch had gained popularity. In
4485-744: The 1896 expedition, and during his stay on Funafuti he collected invertebrate and ethnological objects. The descriptions of these were published in Memoir III of the Australian Museum Sydney between 1896 and 1900. Hedley also wrote the General Account of the Atoll of Funafuti , The Ethnology of Funafuti , and The Mollusca of Funafuti . Edgar Waite was also part of the 1896 expedition and published The mammals, reptiles, and fishes of Funafuti . William Rainbow described
4600-533: The 1981 elections were held. Toaripi Lauti became the first prime minister on 1 October 1978, when Tuvalu became an independent state. That date is also celebrated as the country's Independence Day and is a public holiday. On 26 October 1982, Queen Elizabeth II made a special royal tour to Tuvalu. On 5 September 2000, Tuvalu became the 189th member of the United Nations . On 15 November 2022, amidst sea level rises, Tuvalu announced plans as
4715-486: The 300 recorded in 1861 as living on Nukulaelae. The islands came into Britain's sphere of influence in the late 19th century, when each of the Ellice Islands was declared a British protectorate by Captain Herbert Gibson of HMS Curacoa , between 9 and 16 October 1892. Trading companies became active in Tuvalu in the mid-19th century; the trading companies engaged white ( palagi ) traders who lived on
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4830-682: The Antipodes in Somnium Scipionis ("Dream of Scipio"). The land ( terra in Latin) in this zone was the Terra Australis . Legends of Terra Australis Incognita—an "unknown land of the South"—date back to Roman times and before, and were commonplace in medieval geography, although not based on any documented knowledge of the continent. Ptolemy's maps, which became well known in Europe during
4945-653: The Arguments and proofs that have been advanced by different Authors to prove that there must be a Southern Continent; I mean to the Northward of 40 degrees South, for what may lie to the Southward of that Latitude I know not". The second voyage of James Cook aboard HMS Resolution explored the South Pacific for the landmass between 1772 and 1775 whilst also testing Larcum Kendall 's K1 chronometer as
5060-588: The Austral lands. Although the Admiral gave favourable consideration to these initiatives, they came to nought when Coligny was killed in 1572 . Gerardus Mercator believed in the existence of a large Southern continent on the basis of cosmographic reasoning, set out in the abstract of his Atlas or Cosmographic Studies in Five Books, as related by his biographer, Walter Ghim, who said that even though Mercator
5175-493: The Australische Compagnie (Australian Company) in 1615 to trade with Terra Australis, which they called "Australia". The Dutch expedition to Valdivia of 1643 intended to round Cape Horn sailing through Le Maire Strait but strong winds made it instead drift south and east. The small fleet led by Hendrik Brouwer managed to enter the Pacific ocean sailing south of the island disproving earlier beliefs that it
5290-661: The Brasilie Regio, and discovered the passage very similar to that of our Europe (where we reside) and situated laterally between east and west. From one side the land on the other is visible; and the cape of this region about 60 miles [97 km] away, much as if one were sailing eastward through the Straits of Gibraltar or Seville and Barbary or Morocco in Africa, as our Globe shows toward the Antarctic Pole. Further,
5405-541: The Dutch vessel Eendracht , commanded by Dirk Hartog , with Shark Bay, Western Australia in 1616, appeared to confirm that land existed where the maps showed Beach ; Hartog named the wider landmass Eendrachtsland , after his ship. In August 1642, the Council of the Dutch East India Company – evidently still relying on Linschoten's map – despatched Abel Tasman and Frans Jacobszoon Visscher on
5520-414: The Endeavour, Capt. Cook, for the South Seas, under the direction of the Royal Society, to observe the Transit of Venus next summer, and to make discoveries to the South and West of Cape Horn". The London Gazetteer was more explicit when it reported on 18 August 1768: "The gentlemen, who are to sail in a few days for George's Land, the new discovered island in the Pacific ocean, with an intention to observe
5635-476: The European Union directed at organic waste composting in eco-sanitation systems. The Environment Protection (Litter and Waste Control) Regulation 2013 is intended to improve the management of the importation of non-biodegradable materials. Plastic waste is a problem in Tuvalu, for much imported food and other commodities are supplied in plastic containers or packaging. In 2023 the governments of Tuvalu and other islands vulnerable to climate change ( Fiji , Niue ,
5750-408: The Funafuti Lagoon; beach areas were filled and deep-water access channels were excavated. These alterations to the reef and shoreline resulted in changes to wave patterns, with less sand accumulating to form the beaches, compared to former times. Attempts to stabilise the shoreline did not achieve the desired effect. In December 2022, work on the Funafuti reclamation project commenced, which is part of
5865-466: The Pacific Ocean: "Those who sailed with the yacht of Pedro Fernando de Quiros in the neighbourhood of New Guinea to 10 degrees westward through many islands and shoals and over 23 and 24 fathoms [42 and 44 m] for as many as 40 days, estimated that Nova Guinea does not extend beyond 10 degrees to the south; if this be so, then the land from 9 to 14 degrees would be a separate land". Pedro Fernandes de Queirós , another Portuguese navigator sailing for
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#17327826313755980-444: The Pacific, he passed Niulakita on 29 August 1595, which he named La Solitaria . Captain John Byron passed through the islands of Tuvalu in 1764, during his circumnavigation of the globe as captain of the Dolphin (1751) . He charted the atolls as Lagoon Islands . The first recorded sighting of Nanumea by Europeans was by Spanish naval officer Francisco Mourelle de la Rúa who sailed past it on 5 May 1781 as captain of
6095-423: The Pacific. Drilling occurred in 1896, 1897 and 1898. Professor Edgeworth David of the University of Sydney was a member of the 1896 "Funafuti Coral Reef Boring Expedition of the Royal Society", under Professor William Sollas and led the expedition in 1897. Photographers on these trips recorded people, communities, and scenes at Funafuti. Charles Hedley , a naturalist at the Australian Museum , accompanied
6210-405: The Portuguese voyagers passing through a strait between the southernmost point of America, or Brazil, and a land to the south west, referred to as vndtere Presill (or Brasilia inferior ). This supposed "strait" was in fact the Rio de la Plata (or the San Matias Gulf ). By "vndtere Presill", the Zeytung meant that part of Brazil in the lower latitudes, but Schöner mistook it to mean the land on
6325-509: The Queen Elizabeth Park (QEP) reclamation area and extends to the northern Tausoa Beach Groyne and the Catalina Ramp Harbour. The reefs at Funafuti suffered damage during the El Niño events that occurred between 1998 and 2001, with an average of 70% of the Staghorn ( Acropora spp. ) corals becoming bleached as a consequence of the increase in ocean temperatures. A reef restoration project has investigated reef restoration techniques; and researchers from Japan have investigated rebuilding
6440-410: The Russian explorer Mikhail Lazarev visited Nukufetau as commander of the Mirny . Louis-Isidore Duperrey , captain of La Coquille , sailed past Nanumanga in May 1824 during a circumnavigation of the Earth (1822–1825). A Dutch expedition by the frigate Maria Reigersberg under captain Koerzen, and the corvette Pollux under captain C. Eeg, found Nui on the morning of 14 June 1825 and named
6555-445: The Southern Continent. The Polus Antarcticus map of 1641 by Henricus Hondius , bears the inscription: "Insulas esse a Nova Guinea usque ad Fretum Magellanicum affirmat Hernandus Galego, qui ad eas explorandas missus fuit a Rege Hispaniae Anno 1576 (Hernando Gallego, who in the year 1576 was sent by the King of Spain to explore them, affirms that there are islands from New Guinea up to the Strait of Magellan)". Luís Vaz de Torres ,
6670-451: The Spanish Crown, saw a large island south of New Guinea in 1606, which he named La Austrialia del Espiritu Santo. He represented this to the King of Spain as the Terra Australis incognita. In his 10th Memorial (1610), Queirós said: "New Guinea is the top end of the Austral Land of which I treat [discuss], and that people, and customs, with all the rest referred to, resemble them". Dutch father and son Isaac and Jacob Le Maire established
6785-454: The Terra Australis as hypothesized by Aristotle and Ptolemy did not exist, so he wanted the name applied to what he saw as the next best thing: " Australia " (later the country ), replacing the former name for the continent, New Holland. He wrote: There is no probability, that any other detached body of land, of nearly equal extent, will ever be found in a more southern latitude; the name Terra Australis will, therefore, remain descriptive of
6900-448: The Terra Incognita of the Southern Hemisphere. The Endeavour, a North-Country Cat, is purchased by the Government, and commanded by a Lieutenant of the Navy; she is fitting out at Deptford for the South-Sea, thought to be intended for the newly-discovered Island". The aims of the expedition were revealed in days following: "To-morrow morning Mr. Banks, Dr. Solano [sic], with Mr. Green, the Astronomer, will set out for Deal, to embark on board
7015-414: The Transit of Venus, are likewise, we are credibly informed, to attempt some new discoveries in that vast unknown tract, above the latitude 40". The results of this first voyage of James Cook in respect of the quest for the Southern Continent were summed up by Cook himself. He wrote in his Journal on 31 March 1770 that the Endeavour 's voyage "must be allowed to have set aside the most, if not all,
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#17327826313757130-563: The Treaty will involve Australia increasing its contribution to the Tuvalu Trust Fund and the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project . Australia will also provide a pathway for 280 citizens of Tuvalu to migrate to Australia each year, to enable climate-related mobility for Tuvaluans. Tuvalu is a volcanic archipelago, and consists of three reef islands ( Nanumanga , Niutao and Niulakita ) and six true atolls ( Funafuti , Nanumea , Nui , Nukufetau , Nukulaelae and Vaitupu ). Its small, scattered group of low-lying atolls have poor soil and
7245-399: The Tuvaluan atolls, which then served as a stepping stone for further migration into the Polynesian outliers in Melanesia and Micronesia . In 1568, Spanish explorer and cartographer Álvaro de Mendaña became the first European known to sail through the archipelago, sighting the island of Nui during an expedition he was making in search of Terra Australis . The island of Funafuti
7360-464: The armed brigantine or privateer Rebecca , sailing under British colours, passed through the southern Tuvaluan waters. De Peyster sighted Nukufetau , and Funafuti which he named Ellice's Island after an English politician, Edward Ellice , the Member of Parliament for Coventry and the owner of the Rebecca ' s cargo. The name Ellice was applied to all nine islands after the work of English hydrographer Alexander George Findlay . In 1820,
7475-527: The atolls, an annular reef rim surrounds the lagoon with seven natural reef channels. Surveys were carried out in May 2010 of the reef habitats of Nanumea, Nukulaelae and Funafuti; a total of 317 fish species were recorded during this Tuvalu Marine Life study. The surveys identified 66 species that had not previously been recorded in Tuvalu, which brings the total number of identified species to 607. Tuvalu's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) covers an oceanic area of approximately 900,000 km . Tuvalu signed
7590-404: The central Pacific. The Janet Nicoll visited three of the Ellice Islands; while Fanny records that they made landfall at Funafuti, Niutao and Nanumea , Jane Resture suggests that it was more likely they landed at Nukufetau rather than Funafuti, as Fanny describes meeting Alfred Restieaux and his wife Litia; however they had been living on Nukufetau since the 1880s. An account of this voyage
7705-487: The chances of tropical storms and cyclones , while La Niñan effects increase the chances of drought. Typically the islands of Tuvalu receive between 200 and 400 mm (8 and 16 in) of rainfall per month. The central Pacific Ocean experiences changes from periods of La Niña to periods of El Niño. Terra Australis Terra Australis ( Latin : ' Southern Land ' ) was a hypothetical continent first posited in antiquity and which appeared on maps between
7820-403: The creation of the Funafuti Conservation Area has provided a fishing exclusion area to help sustain the fish population across the Funafuti lagoon. Population pressure on the resources of Funafuti, and inadequate sanitation systems, have resulted in pollution. The Waste Operations and Services Act of 2009 provides the legal framework for waste management and pollution control projects funded by
7935-690: The distance is only moderate from this Region of Brazil to Malacca, where St. Thomas was crowned with martyrdom. On this scrap of information, united with the concept of the Antipodes inherited from Graeco-Roman antiquity, Schöner constructed his representation of the southern continent. His strait served as inspiration for Ferdinand Magellan 's expedition to reach the Moluccas by a westward route. He took Magellan's discovery of Tierra del Fuego in 1520 as further confirmation of its existence, and on his globes of 1523 and 1533 he described it as terra australis recenter inventa sed nondum plene cognita ("Terra Australis, recently discovered but not yet fully known"). It
8050-416: The dress and tattoo patterns of the men of Nukufetau. In 1885 or 1886, the New Zealand photographer Thomas Andrew visited Funafuti and Nui . In 1890, Robert Louis Stevenson , his wife Fanny Vandegrift Stevenson and her son Lloyd Osbourne sailed on the Janet Nicoll , a trading steamer owned by Henderson and Macfarlane of Auckland, New Zealand, which operated between Sydney and Auckland and into
8165-658: The ear, and an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the earth. With the discovery of Antarctica his conclusion would soon be revealed as a mistake, but by that time the name had stuck. A land feature known as the "Province of Beach" or "Boeach" – from the Latin Provincia boëach – appears to have resulted from mistranscriptions of a name in Marco Polo's Il Milione (Book III). Polo described his journey by sea from China to India by way of Champa ( provincia ciamba ; modern southern Vietnam), Java Major , Locach (modern Lop Buri ), and Sumatra ( Java Minor ). In Cantonese , Lavo (an early name of Lop Buri)
8280-575: The existence of an unknown continent aroused widespread interest and prompted the British government in 1769 to order James Cook in HM Bark Endeavour to seek out the Southern Continent to the South and West of Tahiti , discovered in June 1767 by Samuel Wallis in HMS ; Dolphin and named by him King George Island. The London press reported in June 1768 that two ships would be sent to
8395-633: The first country in the world to build a self-digital replica in the metaverse in order to preserve its cultural heritage. On 10 November 2023, Tuvalu signed the Falepili Union treaty with Australia. In the Tuvaluan language, Falepili describes the traditional values of good neighbourliness, care and mutual respect. The Treaty addresses climate change and security, with security threats encompassing major natural disasters, health pandemics and traditional security threats. The implementation of
8510-589: The first uses of navigator Ferdinand Magellan's name in such a context. Schöner called the continent Brasiliae Australis in his 1533 tract, Opusculum geographicum . In it, he explained: Brasilia Australis is an immense region toward Antarcticum, newly discovered but not yet fully surveyed, which extends as far as Melacha and somewhat beyond. The inhabitants of this region lead good, honest lives and are not Anthropophagi [cannibals] like other barbarian nations; they have no letters, nor do they have kings, but they venerate their elders and offer them obedience; they give
8625-478: The founding ancestor is described as being from Tonga . Tuvalu was first sighted by Europeans on 16 January 1568, during the voyage of Álvaro de Mendaña from Spain, who sailed past Nui and charted it as Isla de Jesús (Spanish for "Island of Jesus") because the previous day was the feast of the Holy Name . Mendaña made contact with the islanders but was unable to land. During Mendaña's second voyage across
8740-450: The fourth century B.C. Aristotle hypothesized that the continents of the northern hemisphere must be balanced out by an unknown landmass in the southern hemisphere. Ptolemy (2nd century AD) believed that the Indian Ocean was enclosed on the south by land, and that the lands of the Northern Hemisphere should be balanced by land in the south . Marcus Tullius Cicero used the term cingulus australis ("southern zone") in referring to
8855-507: The frigate La Princesa , when attempting a southern crossing of the Pacific from the Philippines to New Spain . He charted Nanumea as San Augustin . Keith S. Chambers and Doug Munro (1980) identified Niutao as the island that Mourelle also sailed past on 5 May 1781, thus solving what Europeans had called The Mystery of Gran Cocal . Mourelle's map and journal named the island El Gran Cocal ('The Great Coconut Plantation'); however,
8970-457: The geographical importance of this country, and of its situation on the globe: it has antiquity to recommend it; and, having no reference to either of the two claiming nations, appears to be less objectionable than any other which could have been selected. ...with the accompanying note at the bottom of the page: Had I permitted myself any innovation upon the original term, it would have been to convert it into AUSTRALIA; as being more agreeable to
9085-449: The gold-bearing province") in the northernmost part of the Terra Australis in accordance with the faulty text of Marco Polo's Travels . The landmass of Beach remained in this location on Mercator's world map of 1569, with the amplified description, quoting Marco Polo, Beach provincia aurifera quam pauci ex alienis regionibus adeunt propter gentis inhumanitatem ("Beach the gold-bearing province, wither few go from other countries because of
9200-433: The inhumanity of its people") with Lucach regnum shown somewhat to its south west. Following Mercator, Abraham Ortelius also showed BEACH and LVCACH in these locations on his world map of 1571. The 1596 map by Jan Huygen van Linschoten showed BEACH and LOCACH , projecting from the map's southern edge as the northernmost parts of the Terra Australis long hypothesized by Europeans. An encounter by
9315-640: The islanders shifted to the smaller islets so as to allow the American forces to build the airfield and Naval Base Funafuti on Fongafale . A Naval Construction Battalion ( Seabees ) built a seaplane ramp on the lagoon side of Fongafale islet, for seaplane operations by both short- and long-range seaplanes, and a compacted coral runway was also constructed on Fongafale, with runways also constructed to create Nanumea Airfield and Nukufetau Airfield . USN Patrol Torpedo Boats (PTs) and seaplanes were based at Naval Base Funafuti from 2 November 1942 to 11 May 1944. The atolls of Tuvalu acted as staging posts during
9430-657: The islands visited. Captain Davis identified the following traders in the Ellice Group: Edmund Duffy ( Nanumea ); Jack Buckland ( Niutao ); Harry Nitz ( Vaitupu ); Jack O'Brien (Funafuti); Alfred Restieaux and Emile Fenisot ( Nukufetau ); and Martin Kleis ( Nui ). During this time, the greatest number of palagi traders lived on the atolls, acting as agents for the trading companies. Some islands would have competing traders, while dryer islands might only have
9545-587: The islands. John (also known as Jack) O'Brien was the first European to settle in Tuvalu; he became a trader on Funafuti in the 1850s. He married Salai, the daughter of the paramount chief of Funafuti. Louis Becke , who later found success as a writer, was a trader on Nanumanga from April 1880 until the trading station was destroyed later that year in a cyclone . He then became a trader on Nukufetau . In 1892, Captain Edward Davis of HMS Royalist reported on trading activities and traders on each of
9660-485: The last of them were Fred Whibley on Niutao, Alfred Restieaux on Nukufetau, and Martin Kleis on Nui. By 1909 there were no more resident palagi traders representing the trading companies, although Whibley, Restieaux and Kleis remained in the islands until their deaths. The United States Exploring Expedition under Charles Wilkes visited Funafuti , Nukufetau , and Vaitupu in 1841. During this expedition, engraver and illustrator Alfred Thomas Agate recorded
9775-403: The later 19th and early 20th centuries, the ministers of what became the Church of Tuvalu ( Te Ekalesia Kelisiano Tuvalu ) were predominantly Samoans, who influenced the development of the Tuvaluan language and the music of Tuvalu . For less than a year between 1862 and 1863, Peruvian ships engaged in the so-called " blackbirding " trade, by which they recruited or impressed workers, combed
9890-484: The latitude and longitude was uncertain. Longitude could be reckoned only crudely at the time, as accurate chronometers did not become available until the late 18th century. In 1809, Captain Patterson in the brig Elizabeth sighted Nanumea while passing through the northern Tuvalu waters on a trading voyage from Port Jackson, Sydney, Australia to China. In May 1819, Arent Schuyler de Peyster, of New York, captain of
10005-644: The main island ( Fenua Tapu ) as Nederlandsch Eiland . Whalers began roving the Pacific, although they visited Tuvalu only infrequently because of the difficulties of landing on the atolls. The American Captain George Barrett of the Nantucket whaler Independence II has been identified as the first whaler to hunt the waters around Tuvalu. He bartered coconuts from the people of Nukulaelae in November 1821, and also visited Niulakita . He established
10120-482: The name Chasdia , after Noah 's grandson Cush , for the hypothetical continent on the basis of it having dark-skinned inhabitants (Cush's traditional descendants). During the eighteenth century, today's Australia was not conflated with Terra Australis, as it sometimes was in the twentieth century. Captain Cook and his contemporaries knew that the sixth continent (today's Australia), which they called New Holland ,
10235-662: The name Thomas to their children [after St Thomas the Apostle ]; close to this region lies the great island of Zanzibar at 102.00 degrees and 27.30 degrees South. During medieval times Terra Australis was known by a different name, that being the Antipodes . First widely introduced to medieval western Europe by Isidore of Seville in his famous book the Etymologiae , the idea gained popularity across Europe, and most scholars did not question its existence, instead debating if it
10350-796: The newly discovered island and from there to "attempt the Discovery of the Southern Continent". A subsequent press report stated: "We are informed, that the Island which Captain Wallis has discovered in the South-Sea, and named George's Land, is about fifteen hundred Leagues to the Westward and to Leeward of the Coast of Peru, and about five-and-thirty Leagues in circumference; that its principal and almost sole national Advantage is, its Situation for exploring
10465-465: The old administration was officially separated, and two separate British colonies, Kiribati and Tuvalu, were formed. On 1 October 1978, Tuvalu became fully independent as a sovereign state within the Commonwealth , and is a constitutional monarchy with King Charles III as King of Tuvalu . On 5 September 2000, Tuvalu became the 189th member of the United Nations . The islands do not have
10580-654: The origin of the name, Tuvalu, which means "eight standing together" in Tuvaluan (compare to *walu meaning "eight" in Proto-Austronesian ). Possible evidence of human-made fires in the Caves of Nanumanga suggests humans may have occupied the islands for thousands of years. An important creation myth in the islands of Tuvalu is the story of te Pusi mo te Ali (the Eel and the Flounder), who are said to have created
10695-550: The preparation for the Battle of Tarawa and the Battle of Makin that commenced on 20 November 1943, which were part of the implementation of "Operation Galvanic". After the war, the military airfield on Funafuti was developed into Funafuti International Airport . The formation of the United Nations after World War II resulted in the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization committing to
10810-451: The report's implication that there were "alternate" strategies for Islanders to adapt to rising sea levels, and criticised it for neglecting issues such as saltwater intrusion into groundwater tables as a result of sea level rise. Funafuti is the largest atoll, and comprises numerous islets around a central lagoon that is approximately 25.1 kilometres (15.6 miles) (N–S) by 18.4 kilometres (11.4 miles) (W-E), centred on 179°7'E and 8°30'S. On
10925-470: The site now called Darwin's Drill , are the result of drilling conducted by the Royal Society of London for the purpose of investigating the formation of coral reefs to determine whether traces of shallow water organisms could be found at depth in the coral of Pacific atolls. This investigation followed the work on The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs conducted by Charles Darwin in
11040-604: The smaller islands of Polynesia from Easter Island in the eastern Pacific to Tuvalu and the southern atolls of the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati). They sought recruits to fill the extreme labour shortage in Peru. On Funafuti and Nukulaelae, the resident traders facilitated the recruiting of the islanders by the "blackbirders". The Rev. Archibald Wright Murray, the earliest European missionary in Tuvalu, reported that in 1863 about 170 people were taken from Funafuti and about 250 were taken from Nukulaelae, as there were fewer than 100 of
11155-553: The south") or Terra Australis Nondum Cognita ("the southern land not yet known"). Other names were Brasiliae Australis ("the southern Brazil"), and Magellanica ("the land of Magellan "). Matthias Ringmann called it the Ora antarctica (antarctic land) in 1505, and Franciscus Monachus called it the Australis orę (Austral country). In Medieval times it was known as the Antipodes . The French writer Guillaume Postel proposed
11270-453: The southern side of the "strait", in higher latitudes, and so gave to it the opposite meaning. On this slender foundation he constructed his circum-Antarctic continent to which, for the reasons that he does not explain, he gave an annular, or ring shape. In an accompanying explanatory treatise, Luculentissima quaedam terrae totius descriptio ("A Most Lucid Description of All Lands"), he explained: The Portuguese, thus, sailed around this region,
11385-576: The spiders and insects collected at Funafuti in The insect fauna of Funafuti . Harry Clifford Fassett , captain's clerk and photographer, recorded people, communities and scenes at Funafuti in 1900 during a visit of USFC Albatross when the United States Fish Commission was investigating the formation of coral reefs on Pacific atolls. The Ellice Islands were administered as a British Protectorate from 1892 to 1916, as part of
11500-607: The title to the conqueror Pedro de Valdivia and later was incorporated to Chile . Terra Australis was depicted on the mid-16th-century Dieppe maps , where its coastline appeared just south of the islands of the East Indies; it was often elaborately charted, with a wealth of fictitious detail. There was much interest in Terra Australis among Norman and Breton merchants at that time. In 1566 and 1570, Francisque and André d'Albaigne presented Gaspard de Coligny , Admiral of France, with projects for establishing relations with
11615-494: The wisest systems of government, which was founded by a stranger, must have very sanguine expectations of the southern continent, from whence it is more than probable Mango Capac, the first Inca, was derived, and must be convinced that the country, from whence Mango Capac introduced the comforts of civilized life, cannot fail of amply rewarding the fortunate people who shall bestow letters instead of quippos ( quipus ), and iron in place of more awkward substitutes. Dalrymple's claim of
11730-757: Was approved in 1681 but he died in 1685. Alexander Dalrymple , the Examiner of Sea Journals for the English East India Company , whilst translating some Spanish documents captured in the Philippines in 1762 , found de Torres's testimony. This discovery led Dalrymple to publish the Historical Collection of the Several Voyages and Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean in 1770–1771. Dalrymple presented
11845-534: Was approved so that 10 borrow pits would be filled with sand from the lagoon, leaving Tafua Pond, which is a natural pond. The New Zealand Government funded the BPR project. The project was carried out in 2015, with 365,000 sqm of sand being dredged from the lagoon to fill the holes and improve living conditions on the island. This project increased the usable land space on Fongafale by eight per cent. During World War II, several piers were also constructed on Fongafale in
11960-473: Was changed to Boëach , later shortened to Beach . By the mid-16th century, according to Henry Yule , the editor of a modern (1921) edition of Polo's Travels , some geographers and cartographers followed the error in older editions of Polo that "placed ... the land of "Boeach" (or Locac)" south-east of Java and "introduced in their maps a continent in that situation". Gerard Mercator did just that on his 1541 globe, placing Beach provincia aurifera ("Beach
12075-407: Was controversial . The first depiction of Terra Australis on a globe was probably on Johannes Schöner 's lost 1523 globe on which Oronce Fine is thought to have based his 1531 double cordiform (heart-shaped) map of the world. On this landmass he wrote "recently discovered but not yet completely explored". The body of water beyond the tip of South America is called the "Mare Magellanicum", one of
12190-463: Was entirely separate from the imagined (but still undiscovered) seventh continent (today's Antarctica ). In the nineteenth century, the colonial authorities in Sydney re-allocated the name Australia to New Holland and its centuries-old Dutch name eventually disappeared. Meanwhile, having lost its name of Australia , the south polar continent was nameless for decades until Antarctica was coined in
12305-476: Was first among the 18 elected Gilbertese and five Ellice Islander members of the new House of Representatives, amongst them Babera Kirata , the president of GNP. This Republic of Kiribati -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about an Oceanian political party is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Tuvalu Tuvalu ( / t uː ˈ v ɑː l uː / too- VAH -loo )
12420-728: Was habitable for other humans. It would later be included on some zonal Mappa mundi and intrigue medieval scholars for centuries. Explorers of the Age of Discovery , from the late 15th century on, proved that Africa was almost entirely surrounded by sea, and that the Indian Ocean was accessible from both west and east. These discoveries reduced the area where the continent could be found; however, many cartographers held to Aristotle's opinion. Scientists such as Gerardus Mercator (1569) and Alexander Dalrymple as late as 1767 argued for its existence, with such arguments as that there should be
12535-521: Was modified during World War II when the airfield (now Funafuti International Airport ) was constructed. The coral base of the atoll was used as fill to create the runway. The resulting borrow pits impacted the fresh-water aquifer . In the low-lying areas of Funafuti, the sea water can be seen bubbling up through the porous coral rock to form pools with each high tide. In 2014, the Tuvalu Borrow Pits Remediation (BPR) project
12650-429: Was named Ellice's Island in 1819. Later, the whole group was named Ellice Islands by English hydrographer Alexander George Findlay . In the late 19th century, Great Britain claimed control over the Ellice Islands, designating them as within their sphere of influence. Between 9 and 16 October 1892, Captain Herbert Gibson of HMS Curacoa declared each of the Ellice Islands a British protectorate . Britain assigned
12765-454: Was not ignorant that the Austral continent still lay hidden and unknown, he believed it could be "demonstrated and proved by solid reasons and arguments to yield in its geometric proportions, size and weight, and importance to neither of the other two, nor possibly to be lesser or smaller, otherwise the constitution of the world could not hold together at its centre". The Flemish geographer and cartographer, Cornelius Wytfliet , wrote concerning
12880-411: Was part of Terra Australis. The cartographic depictions of the southern continent in the 16th and early 17th centuries, as might be expected for a concept based on such abundant conjecture and minimal data, varied wildly from map to map; in general, the continent shrank as potential locations were reinterpreted. At its largest, the continent included Tierra del Fuego , separated from South America by
12995-610: Was pronounced "Lo-huk" 羅斛 and Locach was Marco Polo's transcription of this name. According to Polo, Locach was a kingdom where gold was "so plentiful that no one who did not see it could believe it". Polo's narrative describes the route southward from Champa toward Sumatra , but by a slip of the pen the name "Java" (which Polo did not himself visit) was substituted for "Champa" as the point of departure, thereby mis-locating Sumatra and Locach south of Java (rather than Champa). Consequently, some geographers believed that Sumatra and Locach were near, or extensions of, Terra Australis . In
13110-730: Was taken up by his followers, the French cosmographer Oronce Fine in his world map of 1531, and the Flemish cartographers Gerardus Mercator in 1538 and Abraham Ortelius in 1570. Schöner's concepts influenced the Dieppe school of mapmakers , notably in their representation of Jave la Grande . In 1539 , the King of Spain , Charles V , created the Governorate of Terra Australis granted to Pedro Sancho de la Hoz , who in 1540 transferred
13225-492: Was written by Fanny Stevenson and published under the title The Cruise of the Janet Nichol , together with photographs taken by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne. In 1894, Count Rudolf Festetics de Tolna, his wife Eila ( née Haggin) and her daughter Blanche Haggin visited Funafuti aboard the yacht Le Tolna . The Count spent several days photographing men and women on Funafuti. The boreholes on Funafuti, at
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