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 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, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:

one of the smallest and most remote countries on Earth; six of the
nine 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

People
Tuvalu

Population:

12,177 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 29.4% (male 1,826/female 1,754)
15-64 years: 65.4% (male 3,891/female 4,073)
65 years and over: 5.2% (male 236/female 397) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 25.2 years
male: 24.2 years
female: 26.4 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

1.577% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

22.75 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

6.98 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

NA (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.59 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 18.97 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 21.56 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 16.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 68.97 years
male: 66.7 years
female: 71.36 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

2.94 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

NA

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

NA

Nationality:

noun: Tuvaluan(s)
adjective: Tuvaluan

Ethnic groups:

Polynesian 96%, Micronesian 4%

Religions:

Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%, Seventh-Day Adventist
1.4%, Baha'i 1%, other 0.6%

Languages:

Tuvaluan, English, Samoan, Ki