吐瓦鲁(Tuvalu)
旧称埃利斯群岛（Ellice Islands）
太平洋中西部国家。面积23.96平方公里。人口约11,000（2001）。首都︰富加费尔（Fongafale，位於富纳富提环礁上）。大多数人民是波里尼西亚人。语言：吐瓦鲁语，也广泛通行英语。宗教：吐瓦鲁教会（由公理会传教团演化而来）。货币︰吐瓦鲁元（$T，相当於澳大利亚元）。吐瓦鲁由五座环礁岛和四座珊瑚礁岛构成，地势皆低，最高海拔不到6公尺，岛上遍布椰子树、面包树和草原。经济以自给自足式农业和渔业为主。政府形式为君主立宪政体，一院制。国家元首是总督（代表英国君主），政府首脑为总理。
原始的波里尼西亚人移民可能主要来自萨摩亚或东加。16世纪为西班牙人所发现。19世纪欧洲人才移民於此，与当地的吐瓦鲁人通婚。在此期间，秘鲁的贩奴商（俗称「贩卖黑奴者」）使岛上人口锐减。1856年美国宣称拥有南部四座岛屿的采海鸟粪权。1865年欧洲传教团抵达这里，迅速改变岛民的宗教信仰，皈依基督教。1892年并入英属吉柏特群岛，1916年成为吉柏特和埃利斯群岛殖民地保护地。1974年投票与吉柏特（今吉里巴斯）分立，因吉柏特人民是密克罗尼西亚人。1978年获得独立，1979年美国撤销其要求。1981年举办选举，1986年通过一部修正的宪法。近几十年来，政府试图为它的公民在海外寻找工作机会。
English version：
Tuvalu
Nation, western central Pacific Ocean. Area: 9.25 sq mi (23.96 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 10,000. Capital: Fongafale (on the Funafuti atoll). The majority of the people are Polynesian. Language: Tuvalu; English is widely used. Religion: Church of Tuvalu (evolved from Congregational missions). Currency: Tuvalu dollar (equivalent to Australian dollar). Tuvalu is an island group comprising five atolls and four coral islands, all of them low-lying, with maximum elevations of less than 20 ft (6 m), and covered mainly with coconut palms, breadfruit trees, and grasses. The economy is based on subsistence agriculture and fishing. It is a constitutional monarchy with one legislative house; its chief of state is the British monarch represented by the governor-general, and the head of government is the prime minister. The original Polynesian settlers probably came mainly from Samoa or Tonga. The islands were sighted by the Spanish in the 16th century. Europeans settled there in the 19th century and intermarried with Tuvaluans. During this period Peruvian slave traders, known as “blackbirders,” decimated the population. In 1856 the U.S. claimed the four southern islands for guano mining. Missionaries from Europe arrived in 1865 and rapidly converted the islanders to Christianity. In 1892 Tuvalu joined the British Gilbert Islands, a protectorate that became the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony in 1916. Tuvaluans voted in 1974 for separation from the Gilberts (now Kiribati), whose people are Micronesian. Tuvalu gained independence in 1978, and in 1979 the U.S. relinquished its claims. Elections were held in 1981, and a revised constitution was adopted in 1986. In recent decades, the government has tried to find overseas job opportunities for its citizens.