Tuvalu Population, Main Cities and Geography

By | January 27, 2023

Tuvalu Population and capital

Population

According to Countryaah website, Tuvalu has around 11,500 residents.

Ethnic groups

The population is made up as follows: Tuvaluans (Polynesians) 91.2%; mixed (Polynesians/Micronesians/other) 7.2%; Europeans 1% and others 0.6%

Religious

affiliation Religious affiliation is distributed as follows: Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalists) 97%, Seventh-day Adventists 1.4%, Baha’i 1% and other 0.6%

National languages

Tuvaluan and English

Capital

The capital of Tuvalu is Viaku on the island of Funafati with a population of around 5,000. That makes up about half of the total population. According to Abbreviation Finder, TUV stands for Tuvalu in English. Click to see other meanings of this 3-letter acronym.

Tuvalu: geography, map

It should be mentioned that Tuvalu was called “Ellice Land” until its independence on October 1st, 1978. Check topmbadirectory for politics, flags, famous people, animals and plants of Tuvalu.

Tuvalu covers an area of only around 26 km². The water surface, on the other hand, covers an area of around 1.3 million km². These are distributed over nine coral atolls, which only rise slightly above sea level. Tuvalu consists of the following new coral atolls:

  • Funafuti, with a size of 2.8 km2 and approx. 4,500 residents. The seat of government of the mini-state, which has been independent since October 1, 1978, is located in Vaiaku
  • Nanumanga, with a size of 2.8 km2 and about 650 residents
  • Nanumea, with a size of 3.9 km2 and about 820 residents
  • Niutao, with a size of 2.6 km2 and about 750 residents
  • Nui, with a size of 2.9 km2 and about 600 residents
  • Nukufetau, with a size of 3.0 km2 and approx. 750 residents
  • Nukulaelae, with a size of 1.9 km2 and about 360 residents
  • Niulakita, with a size of 0.5 km2 and about 100 residents
  • Vaitupu, with a size of 0.5 km2 and about 100 residents

As a result of climate changes, around 70% of the corals have now been destroyed. However, the coral reefs form a natural breakwater in front of the islands, the complete disappearance of which would have catastrophic consequences for the islands. The people of Tuvalu now fear that the land will disappear into the sea in the not too distant future. The islands of Tuvalu understandably have no national borders with other countries. The islands of Tuvalu have a coast to the Pacific Ocean with a length of around 25 km. On the islands of Tuvalu, the mean tidal range is less than 1 m.

Longitude and latitude

Tuvalu extends over the following geographical latitude (abbreviation Δφ) and geographical longitude (abbreviation Δλ):

Δφ = from 05 ° 30 ‘to 11 ° 00’ south latitude Δλ = from 176 ° to 180 ° east longitude

You can find detailed information on this subject under Longitude and Latitude.

Legal time

For Tuvalu, the following value applies to Central European Time (CET), i.e. the time without summer time. A minus sign means that it is earlier there, a plus sign that it is later than CET:

Δt (CET) = + 11 h

Further and detailed explanations of the time can be found under Time zones, time.

The highest point of the sun on Funafuti

Viaku, the capital of the country on the island of Funafuti, is located at a southern latitude of around φ = 08 ° 30´ S.

If the sun or its image point is exactly above the city or the island, i.e. at 08 ° 30´ S, the sun is exactly perpendicular over the city. This happens twice a year, roughly one month before March 21st and one month after September 21st.

Highest elevation

The highest point in the country is only around 5 m high.

Lakes

There is a small freshwater pond on Nanumea Atoll, which is quite unusual for a coral atoll. But this freshwater reservoir is endangered by the ingress of seawater.

Pacific

Tuvalu borders the Pacific Ocean with a total coast length of 25 km – to be more precise, Tuvalu lies in the South Pacific, the so-called South Pacific. This region of the Pacific Ocean includes the Polynesian Islands as well as parts of Melanesia and Micronesia.

Tuvalu Population