Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Tuvalu face challenges not faced by non-LGBT people. Sections 153, 154 and 155 of the Penal Code outlaw male homosexual intercourse with a penalty of up to 14 years in prison, but the law is not enforced. Employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation has been banned since 2017.

Tuvalu is home to a traditional transgender population, called the pinapinaaine, or pina, who historically played certain societal and communal roles. (Full article...)

Willy Telavi (born 28 January 1954) is a Tuvaluan politician who was Prime Minister of Tuvalu from 2010 to 2013.

Telavi was first elected to parliament in 2006 and was re-elected in 2010. He became prime minister on 24 December 2010 and the Telavi Ministry retained government until August 2013. The refusal of prime minister Telavi to recall the Parliament of Tuvalu after the 2013 Nukufetau by-election resulted in a constitutional crisis when he adopted the position that, under the Constitution of Tuvalu, he was only required to convene parliament once a year, and was thus under no obligation to summon it until December 2013. The opposition then requested the Governor-General of Tuvalu, Sir Iakoba Italeli, to intervene against the Telavi’s decision. On 3 July, Governor-General Italeli exercised his reserve powers in ordering parliament to convene, against the prime minister Telavi's wishes, on 30 July. On 1 August 2013 Governor-General Italeli again exercised his reserve powers and dismissed Telavi as Prime Minister of Tuvalu and appointed the opposition leader Enele Sopoaga as Tuvalu’s caretaker prime minister. A day later, on 2 August 2013, Telavi's government was successfully brought down through a vote of no confidence in parliament. He resigned from parliament in August 2014. He was absent for much of the parliamentary year tending to his sick wife in Hawaii, and he resigned in order to remain at his wife's side. (Full article...)

From 1916 to 1975, Tuvalu was part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony of the United Kingdom. A referendum was held in 1974 to determine whether the Gilbert Islands and Ellice Islands should each have their own administration. As a consequence of the referendum, the separate British colonies of Kiribati and Tuvalu were formed. Tuvalu became fully independent as a sovereign state within the Commonwealth on 1 October 1978. On 5 September 2000, Tuvalu became the 189th member of the United Nations.

Tuvalu is a very small island country of 26 km² (10 sq mi). In terms of physical land size, Tuvalu is the fourth smallest country in the world, larger only than the Vatican City—0.44 km²; Monaco—1.95 km² and Nauru—21 km². it is the third-least populated independent country in the world, with a population of 10,507 (2017 Census). Because of the small size of the economy of Tuvalu, its foreign relations are limited to its most important partners. Tuvalu maintains close relations with Fiji, New Zealand, Australia (which has maintained a High Commission in Tuvalu since 2018), Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the United States of America, the United Kingdom and the European Union. (Full article...)

Henry Faati Naisali, CMG, AO, OBE (7 December 1928 – 20 October 2004) was a Tuvaluan politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Tuvalu (1985-1989), Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum (1988-1992) and Pro-Chancellor of The University of the South Pacific (1985-1990). He is notable for co-founding the Tuvalu Trust Fund which lead Tuvalu to achieve greater financial autonomy.

He attended the Elisefou School on Vaitupu, the Ratu Kadavulevu and Queen Victoria schools in Fiji, St. Andrews College in Christchurch, New Zealand, and studied at Canterbury University College, 1954-1956. He joined the Gilbert and Ellice Islands civil service in 1952. He participated in the negotiations in London which resulted in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony being separated into the British colonies of Kiribati and Tuvalu. (Full article...)

Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) on Funafuti atoll in Tuvalu is the only hospital in the country, and the primary provider of medical services for all the islands of Tuvalu. The hospital is located about 1.3 kilometres north from the centre of Funafuti on Fongafale islet.

For 2010, the total health budget was AUD $4,696,042. (Full article...)

The coral reefs of Tuvalu consist of three reef islands and six atolls, containing approximately 710 km² (270 sq mi) of reef platforms. The islands of the Tuvalu archipelago are spread out between the latitude of 5° to 10° south and longitude of 176° to 180°, west of the International Date Line. The islands of Tuvalu are volcanic in origin. On the atolls, an annular reef rim surrounds the lagoon, and may include natural reef channels. The reef islands have a different structure to the atolls, and are described as reef platforms as they are smaller tabular reef platforms that do not have a salt-water lagoon, although they may have a completely closed rim of dry land, with the remnants of a lagoon that has no direct connection to the open sea or that may be drying up. (Full article...)

The Tuvalu Meteorological Service (TMS) is the principal meteorological observatory of Tuvalu and is responsible for providing weather services to the islands of Tuvalu. A meteorological office was established on Funafuti at the time the islands of Tuvalu were administered as parts of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony of the United Kingdom. The meteorological office is now an agency of the government of Tuvalu.

The main observational office is on Funafuti. TMS operates outstations on Nanumea, Nui and Niulakita. TMS operates or monitors: 4 synoptic stations; 5 rainfall stations; 1 upper air research program; 1 tide gauge with Tsunami warning system; 1 Continuous Global Positioning System (CGPS) station; 1 seismic station. (Full article...)

Tuvalu competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation at London marked its second appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 2008 Summer Olympics. The delegation consisted of three competitors: two short-distance runners, Tavevele Noa and Asenate Manoa, and one weightlifter, Tuau Lapua Lapua. All three qualified for the games through wildcard places because they did not meet the qualification standards. Lapua was the flag bearer for the opening ceremony while Manoa carried it at the closing ceremony. Noa and Manoa failed to advance beyond the preliminary rounds of their events although the latter established a new national record for the women's 100 metres, while Lapua placed 12th in the men's featherweight (62 kilogram) weightlifting competition. (Full article...)

The Tuvaluan constitutional crisis was a political dispute in Tuvalu between the government, led by Prime Minister Willy Telavi, and the opposition, led by Enele Sopoaga, that was precipitated by the death of the Minister of Finance, Lotoala Metia MP on 21 December 2012, which eliminated the government's majority. The dispute was eventually resolved in August 2013 by a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Willy Telavi, following which Enele Sopoaga was elected Prime Minister. (Full article...)

Parliamentary elections were held in Tuvalu on 16 September 2010. Voters elected fifteen members of the Parliament to a four-year term. All candidates were independents, as there are no political parties in the country. Ten out of the fifteen incumbent members were re-elected. The remaining five incumbents, including Deputy Prime Minister Tavau Teii, did not retain their seats. The incumbent Prime Minister, Apisai Ielemia, retained his seat in Vaitupu constituency. On 29 September, Maatia Toafa from Nanumea won eight of the fifteen votes to become Prime Minister.

However, on 24 December 2010, after a motion of no confidence, carried by eight votes to seven, Maatia Toafa was replaced by Willy Telavi as Prime Minister of Tuvalu. (Full article...)

Tuvalu consists of nine separate islands: six atolls and three reef islands. An atoll typically consists of several islets: Tuvalu has a total of 124 islands and islets. Each island is surrounded by a coral reef. The soils of Tuvalu's islands are usually shallow, porous, alkaline, coarse-textured, with carbonate mineralogy and high pH values of up to 8.2 to 8.9. The soils are usually deficient in most of the important nutrients needed for plant growth, so garden beds need to be enhanced with mulch to increase their fertility. Tuvalu's small, widely scattered atolls have a total land area of only about 26 square kilometres (10 square miles) making Tuvalu the fourth-smallest country in the world.

The sea level at the Funafuti tide gauge has been rising at a rate of 3.9 mm per year, and it has been determined that rising sea levels are causing more wave energy to be transferred across reef surfaces, which has tended to push more sand onto island shorelines, increasing islands’ land area. Over a recent four-decade period, there was a net increase in the land area of the islets of 2.9% (73.5 ha), although the changes were not uniform: About 74% of them increased in size and about 27% decreased in size. (Full article...)

Pulaka, Cyrtosperma merkusii, or swamp taro, is a crop grown mainly in Tuvalu and an important source of carbohydrates for the area's inhabitants. It is a "swamp crop" similar to taro, but "with bigger leaves and larger, coarser roots."
The same plant is known as ‘‘pulaka’’ in Niue, babai in Kiribati, puraka in Cook Islands, pula’a in Samoa, via, via kana or via kau in Fiji, pulaka in Tokelau, simiden in Chuuk, swam taro in Papua New Guinea, and navia in Vanuatu.

Pulaka roots need to be cooked for hours to reduce toxicity in the corms, but are rich in nutrients, especially calcium. Pulaka is an important part of Tuvalu cultural and culinary tradition, now under threat from rising sea level and displacement from the growing use of imported food products. (Full article...)

Sir Tomu Malaefone Sione, GCMG, OBE (17 November 1941 – April 2016), was a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu. He worked as a journalist from 1962 to 1968, and held the post of radio announcer in the Broadcasting and Information Department of the administration of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony (GEIC). He was the head of the southern Niutao clan. He was married to Segali. (Full article...)

Naama Maheu Latasi, Lady Latasi, OBE (died 16 March 2012) was a political figure from the Pacific nation of Tuvalu. She stood for election in the constituency of Nanumea in 1989 and was elected to the Parliament of Tuvalu. Lady Latasi served as Minister of Health, Education and Community Services in the first Government of Prime Minister of Tuvalu Bikenibeu Paeniu. She was the first female member of parliament in Tuvaluan history. An amazing feat, that served to both pave the way for other aspiring female members of parliament today, but propelled the movement of gender equality. She served in Parliament from 1989 to 1997. Although she was not re-elected in the first 1993 general election but regained her seat in parliament in the second 1993 general election. (Full article...)

The Tuvalu Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (TASNOC) is the Tuvaluan organization recognized as a National Olympic Committee (NOC) by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In 2006, Tuvalu satisfied the IOC's criterion of a minimum five national sports federations recognized by their international sports federations, which included basketball, volleyball, weightlifting, boxing and table tennis.

TASNOC is a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code published by the World Anti-Doping Agency. (Full article...)