Commonwealth realm of Tuvalu

Tuvalu
Commonwealth realm


Motto Tuvalu mo te Atua Tuvalu for the Almighty
Anthem God Save the Queen


Capital	Funafuti

Government	Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy
Monarch
- From 1978	Elizabeth II
Governor General
- From 2010	Iakoba Italeli
Prime Minister
- From 2010	Willy Telavi

Legislature	Parliament

History
- October 1, 1975	Separated from Gilbert Islands
- October 1, 1978	Established

Area	26 km²

Population
- 2011	10,544
Density	405.5/km²

GDP	2011 (PPP)
- Total	US$ 0 billion
- Per capita	US$ 3,400

Currency	Tuvaluan dollar

Gilbert and Ellice Islands
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Tuvalu is a constitutional monarchy in Polynesia. It is also one of the Commonwealth realms.

Background

In 1974, ethnic differences within the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands caused the Polynesians of the Ellice Islands to vote for separation from the Micronesians of the Gilbert Islands. The following year, the Ellice Islands became the separate British colony of Tuvalu. Independence was granted in 1978. In 2000, Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name ".tv" for $50 million in royalties over a 12-year period.^[1]

Economy

Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of nine coral atolls with poor soil. The country has no known mineral resources and few exports and is almost entirely dependent upon imported food and fuel. Subsistence farming and fishing are the primary economic activities. Fewer than 1,000 tourists, on average, visit Tuvalu annually. Job opportunities are scarce and public sector workers make up most of those employed. About 15% of the adult male population work as seamen on merchant ships abroad, and remittances are a vital source of income contributing around $2 million in 2007. Substantial income is received annually from the Tuvalu Trust Fund (TTF) an international trust fund established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea. Thanks to wise investments and conservative withdrawals, this fund grew from an initial $17 million to an estimated value of $77 million in 2006. The TTF contributed nearly $9 million towards the government budget in 2006 and is an important cushion for meeting shortfalls in the government's budget. The US Government is also a major revenue source for Tuvalu because of payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries. In an effort to ensure financial stability and sustainability, the government is pursuing public sector reforms, including privatization of some government functions and personnel cuts. Tuvalu also derives royalties from the lease of its ".tv" Internet domain name with revenue of more than $2 million in 2006. A minor source of government revenue comes from the sale of stamps and coins. With merchandise exports only a fraction of merchandise imports, continued reliance must be placed on fishing and telecommunications license fees, remittances from overseas workers, official transfers, and income from overseas investments. Growing income disparities and the vulnerability of the country to climatic change are among leading concerns for the nation.^[2]