Geography Of Tuvalu

Location	Oceania, island group consisting of nine coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia
Geographic coordinates	8 00 S, 178 00 E
Map references	oceania
Area	total: 26 sq km water: 0 sq km land: 26 sq km
Area comparative	0.1 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries	0 km
Coastline	24 km
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm
Climate	tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March)
Terrain	very low-lying and narrow coral atolls
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location 5 m
Natural resources	fish
Land use	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2001)
Irrigated land	NA sq km
Natural hazards	severe tropical storms are usually rare, but, in 1997, there were three cyclones; low level of islands make them very sensitive to changes in sea level
Environment - current issues	since there are no streams or rivers and groundwater is not potable, most water needs must be met by catchment systems with storage facilities (the Japanese Government has built one desalination plant and plans to build one other); beachhead erosion because of the use of sand for building materials; excessive clearance of forest undergrowth for use as fuel; damage to coral reefs from the spread of the Crown of Thorns starfish; Tuvalu is very concerned about global increases in greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on rising sea levels, which threaten the country's underground water table; in 2000, the government appealed to Australia and New Zealand to take in Tuvaluans if rising sea levels should make evacuation necessary
Environment - international agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography note	one of the smallest and most remote countries on Earth; six of the coral atolls - Nanumea, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, and Nukulaelae - have lagoons open to the ocean; Nanumaya and Niutao have landlocked lagoons; Niulakita does not have a lagoon

Applied Language Solutions offer English to Tuvaluan Translation , English Translation , English to Samoan Translation .

This information was reproduced in part from the CIA World Fact book.

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Geography Of Tuvalu