The History of Tuvalu
Tuvalu. The world's fourth smallest country. Located in the southern Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Australia, you'll find this small nation nestled right around Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, New Caledonia, and American Samoa. Few people even know this country exists, so become a part of the minority...read on!
Tuvalu most likely came into existence because of a volcano. A volcano that slowly sank down into the ocean. As it sank, coral grew on top of it. Since the coral sank with the volcano, more coral kept growing on top of the existing coral, thriving in its preferred depth. Eventually, another volcano erupted, causing the mass of coral to move up to the surface of the ocean and create these atolls. (This is only a theory, made by Charles Darwin.)
Many years after this country came into existence, the islands became inhabited. The first settlers were most likely from Samoa, Tonga, and the northern Cook Islands. They probably arrived in the fourteenth century. Later that century (January 16, 1568 to be exact), Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira and a group of Europeans discovered the nine islands of Tuvalu. It's funny how the name Tuvalu (formerly known as the Ellice Islands) means "cluster of eight" when the country actually has nine islands. The names of the islands are: Nanumena, Niutao, Nanumaga, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, Nukulaelae, and Niulakita. Even though the nation was discovered in 1568, it didn't appear on European maps until the 1820's. Tuvalu finally became a country on October 1, 1978.
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The people of the nation speak Tuvaluan, a language that is supposedly 2000 years old. The local genealogies suggest otherwise, saying that it is only 300 years old. In my personal opinion, I think it would make more sense for the language to be younger, because the nation was supposedly inhabited only half a century ago. It seems irrational (to me) that the language be 2000 years old when the country is just a quarter of that.
Other Facts:
Other Facts:
- The main industries in Tuvalu (historically) were most likely agriculture and fishing.
- The government is a Constitutional Monarchy