Funafuti

Funafuti is the capital of the small island nation of Tuvalu. Not a city in the traditional sense, it is really a narrow sweep of land between 20 and 400 meters wide, encircling a large lagoon. There is an airstrip, hotel, and administrative buildings, as well as homes, constructed both in the traditional manner, out of palm fronds, and more recently out of cement blocks.

Economy: Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of nine coral atolls with poor soil. The country has no known mineral resources and few exports. Subsistence farming and fishing are the primary economic activities. Government revenues largely come from the sale of stamps and coins and worker remittances. Substantial income is received annually from an international trust fund established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea. The US government is also a major revenue source for Tuvalu, because of payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries. In 1998, Tuvalu began deriving revenue from use of its area code for "900" lines and in 2000, from the lease of its ".tv" Internet domain name. Royalties from these new technology sources could increase substantially over the next decade. With merchandise exports only a fraction of merchandise imports, continued reliance must be placed on fishing and telecommunications license fees, remittances from overseas workers, official transfers, and investment income from overseas assets.

Export Commodities: Copra and fish

Export Partners: UK, Italy, France, Fiji and Sudan

Import Commodities: Food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery and manufactured goods

Import Partners: Japan, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand and Germany

Population: 11,468

Location: Tuvalu is one of the smallest and most remote countries on Earth. Located in 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 are 8 31 S, 179 13 E

Climate: Tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November), westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March).