Tuvalu – from Polynesian atolls to independence in 1978
The atolls of Tuvalu were settled by Polynesian voyagers, most likely from Samoa and Tonga, around 2,000 years ago or more. On each small island communities developed their own traditions, built around the falekaupule, the traditional assembly, and a deep knowledge of the sea. The name Tuvalu means "eight standing together", referring to the traditionally inhabited islands.
The first European sighting is attributed to the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña in 1568. In the 19th century whalers and traders visited the islands, and in the 1860s slave raiders, so-called blackbirders, abducted many islanders to Peru, causing a dramatic loss of population. Around the same time, the London Missionary Society brought Christianity, which quickly became central to island life. In 1892 the islands, then known as the Ellice Islands, became a British protectorate and were later joined with the Gilbert Islands to form the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony.
During the Second World War the United States built airfields on Funafuti and other atolls as bases for the Pacific campaign. After the war, differences between the Polynesian Ellice Islanders and the Micronesian Gilbertese grew, and in a referendum in 1974 the Ellice Islanders voted for separation. Tuvalu became a separate colony in 1975 and gained independence on 1 October 1978. Since then the tiny nation has become a prominent voice in international discussions about climate change and rising sea levels.
Today Tuvalu is shaped by close-knit island communities, its Christian faith and the challenge of protecting its low-lying homeland.
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