The Future of Tuvalu in the Polynesia

Tuvalu (/tuvlu/ too-VAH-loo) (formerly known as the Ellice Islands), is a country in Polynesia, located in the Pacific Ocean, situated in Oceania and about midway between Hawaii and Australia. The island country lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands (which belong to the Solomon Islands), southeast of Nauru, south of Kiribati, west of Tokelau, northwest of Samoa and Wallis and Futuna, and north of Fiji. It is composed of three reef islands and six true atolls spread out between the latitude of 5 to 10 south and longitude of 176 to 180, west of the International Date Line. Tuvalu has a population of 11,192 (2017 census). The total land area of the islands of Tuvalu is 26 square kilometres (10 sq mi). The first inhabitants of Tuvalu were Polynesians. The origins of the people of Tuvalu are addressed in the theories regarding migration into the Pacific that began about three thousand years ago. During pre-European-contact times there was frequent canoe voyaging between the islands as Polynesian navigation skills are recognised to have allowed deliberate journeys on double-hull sailing canoes or outrigger canoes.