Tuvalu

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Tuvalu

Tuvalu is an island nation in Oceania's Polynesian sub-region in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands lie roughly halfway between Hawaii and Australia. Tuvalu consists of three reef islands and six atolls, with a total land area of 26 square kilometers. Tuvalu's first inhabitants were Polynesians, according to well-known theories about the Polynesians' migration to the Pacific beginning around three thousand years ago. Well before Europeans had contact with the Pacific islands, Polynesians often travelled by canoe between the islands. Scholars think that the Polynesians spread from Samoa and Tonga to the atolls of Tuvalu, which then served as a stepping stone for continued migration to Polynesian outposts in Melanesia and Micronesia. Spanish navigator and documenter Álvaro de Mendaña was the first European to sail through the archipelago in 1569, and he saw the island of Nui during his expedition in search of Terra Australis. There is no significant amount of arable land on the islands, so the country depends heavily on imports and fishing for food. As a low-lying island nation, the country is highly vulnerable to sea-level rise caused by climate change. As a member of the Alliance of Small Island States, it is actively involved in international climate negotiations. Tuvalu is an archipelago of volcanic origin, consisting of three reef islands and six true atolls. The vegetation type predominant on the islands of Tuvalu is cultivated coconut woodland, which covers 43% of the area. Native broadleaf forest is limited to 4.1% of the vegetation habitat. Tuvalu comprises the Western Polynesian Tropical Moist Forests Terrestrial Ecoregion.