Tuvalu is an island country in the west-central Pacific Ocean. It sits about halfway between Australia and Hawaii. Its neighbours include Kiribati, to the north, and Fiji, to the south. It is made up of a chain of 9 small coral islands. The islands are low lying. Many have large lagoons and are surrounded by coral reefs.

Key facts

Region: Pacific

Population: 11,500 (2018)

Area: 25.6 square kilometres

Capital: Vaiaku (government offices), Fongafale islet, Funafuti atoll

Joined Commonwealth: 1978

Commonwealth Youth Index: lack of adequate data

Secretariat support for Tuvalu

Human rights

The Commonwealth’s Small States Office in Geneva helped Tuvalu to report on human rights in the country under the United Nation’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process. Tuvalu achieved a successful UPR in May 2018 as a result.

Climate change

At a workshop in Fiji in June 2018, the Secretariat helped Tuvalu learn about the law and managing risk as a result of climate change.

Education

The Secretariat helped Tuvalu learn about the global community and partnerships. It also worked with the country to help it encourage cultural and religious tolerance.

The Secretariat is working with Tuvalu to improve access to education for all people and to achieve better results in education.

Natural resources

The Secretariat helped the Tuvalu government build skills to negotiate with the International Seabed Authority (ISA) on the development of rules for seabed mining.

Find out more