Tuvalu - Geography
Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Tuvalu. 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. Mother's mean age at first birth is (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 170 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Geographical data of Tuvalu
| Location | Oceania, island group consisting of nine coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about half way from Hawaii to Australia |
|---|---|
| Geographic coordinates | 8 00 S, 178 00 E |
| Map references | Oceania |
| Tarrain | low-lying and narrow coral atolls |
| Natural Resources | fish, coconut (copra) |
| Natural Hazards | severe tropical storms are usually rare, but in 1997 there were three cyclones; low levels of islands make them sensitive to changes in sea level |
| Irrigated Land | 0 sq km (2022) |
| Major rivers (by length in km) | |
| Major aquifers | |
| Land Boundaries | 0 km |
| Border Countries | |
| Coastline | 24 km |
| Climate | tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March) |
| Area | |
| Total Area | |
| Land Area | 26 sq km |
| Water Area | 0 sq km |
| comparative Area | about the size of Washington, D.C. |
| Maritime Claims | |
| Territorial sea | 12 nm |
| Contiguous zone | 24 nm |
| Exclusive economic zone | 200 nm |
| Elevations | |
| Highest point | unnamed location 5 m |
| Lowest point | Pacific Ocean 0 m |
| Mean elevation | 2 m |
| Land Use | |
| Agricultural land | 60% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 0% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 60% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 0% (2022 est.) |
| Forest | 33.3% (2022 est.) |
| Other | 6.7% (2022 est.) |
Population Distribution
Over half of the population resides on the atoll of Funafuti
People and Society
In Tuvalu, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Tuvaluan 97%, Tuvaluan/I-Kiribati 1.6%, Tuvaluan/other 0.8%, other 0.6% (2017 est.)
| Population | |
|---|---|
| Pop growth rate | 0.78% (2024 est.) |
| Birth rate | 22 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Death rate | 7.8 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Health expenditure | |
| Physicians Density | |
| Hospital bed Density | |
| Total fertility rate | 2.78 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
| Gross reproduction rate | 1.36 (2024 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | |
| Est married women (ages 15-49) | 66.1% (2023 est.) |
| Literacy | |
| Education expenditures | |
| Net Migration rate | -6.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Nationality | Tuvaluan | Tuvaluan(s) |
| Languages | Tuvaluan (official), English (official), Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui) |
| Religions | Protestant 92.7% (Congregational Christian Church of Tuvalu 85.9%, Brethren 2.8%, Seventh Day Adventist 2.5%, Assemblies of God 1.5%), Baha'i 1.5%, Jehovah's Witness 1.5%, other 3.9%, none or refused 0.4% (2017 est.) |
| Age Structure | |
| 0-14 years | 29.2% (male 1,754/female 1,672) |
| 15-64 years | 63.2% (male 3,736/female 3,675) |
| 65 years and over | 7.6% (2024 est.) (male 326/female 570) |
| Dependency Ratios | |
| Total dependency ratio | 58.3 (2024 est.) |
| Youth dependency ratio | 46.2 (2024 est.) |
| Elderly dependency ratio | 12.1 (2024 est.) |
| Potential support ratio | 8.3 (2024 est.) |
| Median Age | |
| Total | 27.8 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 26.8 years |
| Female | 28.8 years |
| Urbanization | |
| Urban population | 66.2% of total population (2023) |
| Rate of urbanization | 2.08% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
| Major urban areas (Pop) | 7,000 FUNAFUTI (capital) (2018). |
| Sex Ratio | |
| At birth | 1.05 male(s)/female |
| 0-14 years | 1.05 male(s)/female |
| 15-64 years | 1.02 male(s)/female |
| 65 years and over | 0.57 male(s)/female |
| Total population | 0.98 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
| Infant Motality | |
| Total | 27.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
| Male | 31.3 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Female | 24 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life Expectancy at birth | |
| Total population | 69 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 66.5 years |
| Female | 71.6 years |
| Drinking Water Sources | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 99% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: rural | rural: 99.7% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: total | total: 99.3% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 1% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 0.3% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: total | total: 0.7% of population (2022 est.) |
| Sanitation facility acess | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 96.7% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: rural | rural: 93.9% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: total | total: 95.8% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 3.3% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 6.1% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: total | total: 4.2% of population (2022 est.) |
| Alcohol consumption per capita | |
| Total | 0.93 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Beer | 0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Wine | 0.69 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Spirits | 0.22 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Other alcohols | 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Tobacco use | |
| Total | 32.4% (2025 est.) |
| Male | 46.2% (2025 est.) |
| Female | 18.1% (2025 est.) |
| Child marriage | |
| Women married by age 15 | 0% (2020) |
| Women married by age 18 | 1.8% (2020) |
| Men married by age 18 | 1.7% (2020) |
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Tuvalu
Want to know more about Tuvalu? Check all different factbooks for Tuvalu below.
