History of Tuvalu

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The story of Tuvalu describes the development of the island state of Tuvalu, located in the Pacific Ocean , from settlement by the indigenous population, through exploration, Christianization and colonization by Europeans, to the way to independence from the United Kingdom on October 1, 1978.

History of Tuvalu

The islands

Tuvalus map
Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David went on a research trip to Funafuti in 1897 to study the coral reefs

The islands of Funafuti , Nanumea , Nui , Nukufetau , Nukulaelae and Vaitupu are atolls , ring-shaped coral reefs that enclose a lagoon that, except in the case of Vaitupu, is much larger than the respective land area. The formation of coral islands was an issue with significant scientific arguments in the 19th century. Since corals only grow in shallow, rarely less than 80 meters, depths of the sea, scientists of the time particularly worried why the coral rocks formed from their remains often extended hundreds of meters below the sea.

In 1842, the famous scientist Charles Darwin , who visited the Pacific in 1835/36, proposed the theory that coral islands were built on slowly falling volcanic rocks . As the volcanic bedrock sank, it carried the dead coral to greater depths. Meanwhile, new coral deposits were growing on top of these piles near the surface, so coral upward growth kept pace with subsidence. Later there was another volcanic movement that pushed some of the corals into islands. As a result, according to Darwin, there was a solid mass of coral rock above the surface of the sea and from there stretched through the waters in which it was formed to depths where the coral had never lived.

After many years of discussing the structure of the atolls, the Royal Society in London decided to drill holes in the corals and take a sample from far below the surface to see if the samples contained traces of shallow water organisms. In 1896 an expedition was sent to Tuvalu, which was able to drill 33 meters deep on Funafuti. In 1897 another group of scientists, led by Professor Edgeworth David of the University of Sydney, drilled to a depth of 200 meters, while a third group received a sample from 340 meters the following year. It was found that all samples contained traces of shallow water organisms. However, none of the holes could reach the depth of the volcanic base of Funafuti. Another attempt was made in 1911, which was also unsuccessful. The drill holes can be seen to this day at what is now called David's Drill .

Professor Edgeworth David's wife wrote a book describing her experiences in Funafuti. This was published in 1899 under the title Funafuti, Or Three Months on a Coral Island (Funafuti or three months on a coral island).

Arrival of the Tuvaluans

According to linguists, the Tuvaluan language and with it the settlement of the country goes back about 2000 years. However, the traditional stories and origins usually only go back around 300 years to the beginning of the 18th century, so that the story of Tuvalu does not come from the earlier ancestors, but from later arrivals in Tuvalu. It is generally believed that the earlier ancestors came mainly from Samoa , possibly coming from Tokelau , or from Tonga and Uvea ( Wallis Islands ). These settlers were all Polynesians , with the exception of Nui, where many people were descended from the Kiribati Micronesians .

On the north coast of Nanumanga in 1986, divers investigated the local legend of a "great house under the sea". They found an underwater cave that ran more than 40 meters down along the coral cliffs. In the cave there were about 8,000 year old indications of an ancient settlement, which contradict the general opinion of the settlement of the Pacific area 4,000 years ago. Climatic evidence of a massive sea-level rise that began 18,000 years ago and stopped 4,000 years ago, however, has allegedly destroyed most of the evidence of much earlier human migration to Tuvalu and other islands in the Pacific.

There are three different language areas in Tuvalu. The first area includes the islands of Nanumea, Niutao and Nanumanga. The second is the island of Nui, where the inhabitants speak a language that is fundamentally derived from the Kiribati language . The third language group includes the islands of Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti and Nukulaelae. Today Tuvaluan and English are spoken on the islands. According to today's scientists, the population of Tuvalu never exceeded 3000 before 1900. These opinions are based on early reports from the Mission and on careful estimates of the capacity of the country's food resources. Although they may well be correct, these views should not be accepted uncritically, because the written records come from people who were unfamiliar with life in Tuvalu and who assess them differently from the people living in Tuvalu.

Some archaeologists believe that the indigenous population may have been more developed. For example, during an excavation around the village of Malae organized by one of the pastors of the Niutao Mission in the early 1930s, many human skulls were found buried about three feet below the surface. Numerous human graves have also been discovered in Nukufetau, especially on Fale Island . Further evidence comes from the huge holes dug in the earth to breed taro, called pulaka in Tuvaluan . These pits were dug to different depths. Most were between 30 centimeters and six meters deep, but some are twenty meters deep from the base to the highest point of the raised ground. These types of agricultural land and storage facilities sometimes lead to the assumption that the population could have been over 3,000 people. In addition, the traditional Tuvaluan narratives do not contain reports of enormous population losses, including when people were killed in wars or likely died from droughts or cyclones. In 1979 the population of Tuvalu was estimated at 7,349. The current population of Tuvalu is around 10,640, as well as growing Tuvaluan communities in other countries, especially Australia , New Zealand and Kiribati .

European explorations

The Spanish explorer and navigator Alvaro de Mendaña de Neyra was the first European to come into contact with Tuvalu in 1568
The Spanish merchant and navigator Francisco Antonio Mourelle de la Rúa was forced to make a stopover on Tuvalu in 1781 and discovered Nanumanga and Nanumea
Tuvalu was named Ellice Islands in 1819 after the English businessman and politician Edward Ellice

The first European to come into contact with Tuvalu was Alvaro de Mendaña de Neyra , a Spanish explorer and navigator. He sailed westward across the Pacific in 1567 and 1568 to discover, explore, and name a substantial portion of the eastern half of the Solomon Islands . On January 16, 1568, Mendaña with his ship Capitana saw his first island, which turned out to be Nui, and named it the Isla de Jesús (Island of Jesus). Mendaña himself reported of Nui: “We found it so small that it was no more than six miles in circumference. The island was full of trees like palm trees; To the north there was a reef ... “Although the islanders dared to go to the ship, no contact was made with them. Gallego, the first helmsman, only documented that they were 'naked and mulatto', and Sarmiento, the captain of the flagship, stated that the island had 'a great fishery'.

A quarter of a century later, Alvaro de Mendaña de Neyra again received ships and crews to re-explore the Pacific. On April 11, 1595, Mendaña de Neyra and his wife Isabel embarked on another, the second voyage of discovery. On August 29, 1595, the Niulakita atoll was discovered and named La Solitaria . Once again no contact was made and Mendaña sailed in search of the Solomon Islands, where he died on Santa Cruz on October 18, 1595.

This was the first and only European contact with Tuvalu for almost two centuries. The atolls were disregarded until 1781, when the Spanish merchant and navigator Francisco Antonio Mourelle de la Rúa was forced to land there in poor winds on a trip south of the equator from Manila to Mexico . With inadequate precautions and due to the supplies eaten by cockroaches, he was forced to the south of the Tongan archipelago. He sailed north on May 5, 1781, to an island he called Isla del Cocal , the atoll of Nanumanga. It was impossible to land, although the islanders who also came on board tried to tow his frigate La Princesa by tying lines to the bow. Mourelle finally gave up and sailed northwest and saw Nanumea, whom he called San Augustin , but no closer than six leugen . Once again, Tuvalu atolls had been discovered by accident, but continued to arouse little or no interest among those who discovered them.

The American captain Arent Schuyler de Peyster carried out the rediscovery of Tuvalu. He was in command of the British Brigantine Rebecca , which in May 1819 discovered a group of fourteen islands that appeared to be inhabited. The first atoll was discovered when the Rebecca was barely 50 meters from shore. Less the visibility and the isolation of Tuvalu, but rather the concern about shipwrecks were the very clear reasons for the delayed discovery. The atoll was Funafuti and de Peyster named it Ellice's Group after the English merchant Edward Ellice , owner of Rebecca's cargo and member of the House of Commons for Coventry . Ellice was also a financier with far-reaching imperialist interests and a leading figure in the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada . The next morning de Peyster saw Nukufetau, which he called de Peyster's Group , before the English hydrograph Alexander George Findlay applied the name Ellice Islands to all nine islands in his work Coasts and Islands of the Pacific Ocean , published in 1851 .

In the following decade, more traders and whalers visited Tuvalu briefly, especially after the discovery of the whaling area in the Central Pacific in 1818. Captain George Barrett was the first to discover Nukulaelae on the whaling ship Independence II from Nantucket , and Niulakita on November 6, 1821 rediscovered. Four years later, Obed discovered Starbuck in 1825 with the whaling ship Loper Niutao and Vaitupu and Captain Eeg of the Dutch ship Pollux , Nui, more than 250 years after Mendaña's first voyage. Although few travelogues have been written, they ultimately serve to locate the atolls' position on the map of the Pacific. Accidental discoveries resulted in almost unintentional incorporation. By the mid-19th century, Tuvaluans were apparently familiar with the unfortunate medical effects of the increasing numbers of Europeans. When Captain Pease of the ship Planter was one of the first Europeans to visit the atoll of Nanumea, he was washed and was only allowed to step ashore after various other ceremonies.

The waters around Tuvalu were visited by other American whalers in the 19th century. However, seafarers only occasionally left their ships and set ashore while some of the islanders became crew members. Some wreckers from Europe became traders and representatives of companies in Australia, Germany and the USA and organized the export of coconut oil or copra . In the 1860s, slave traders , the so-called “Blackbirders”, took around 400 islanders, mainly from Funafuti and Nukulaelae, to work in Peru . None of them ever returned. Others were later recruited for plantations in Fiji , Samoa, and Hawaii . European diseases also caused many deaths among islanders.

Christianity and European traders

The writer Robert Louis Stevenson visited the island of Funafuti in 1890 with his wife Fanny Stevenson

The Christianity was introduced in 1861, when some supporters of the London Missionary Society (LMS) from Manihiki in the Cook Islands exaggerated by accident in a canoe to Nukulaelae. In May 1865 the Reverend AW Murray of the London Missionary Society of Samoa visited Tuvalu, whereupon Samoan pastors settled on the various islands. To date, the vast majority of Tuvaluans are members of the Ekalesia Kelisiano Tuvalu State Church (EKT), which grew out of the missionary work of the London Missionary Society in 1861.

The German shipping and merchant company Godeffroy und Sohn from Hamburg was the first trading company in Tuvalu. Since the locals did not practice copra production in an organized manner, the company developed a systematic set up of agents, many of whom were American and British wreckers. At various points on the islands, European goods delivered by Godeffroy and his son were exchanged for the dried coconuts among the natives. This system was the basis for the settlement of a significant number of traders who spread across the islands at the time. On the 1892 journey made the sloop HMS Royalist whose Captain Davis, who sensed Gilbert Islands to British Protectorate declared following traders and merchants on the Ellice's Group : Duffy (Nanumea), Buckland (Niutao) Nitz (Vaitupu), John "Jack" O'Brien (Funafuti), Alfred Restieaux and Fenisot (Nukufetau) and Martin Kleis (Nui).

The names of these traders are still very present on the islands of Tuvalu to this day. Originally from an English family of French descent, Alfred Restieaux was a soldier of fortune who traveled the world including South Africa , Australia, South America and the United States before settling in Tuvalu. He was finally employed by the John Caesar Godeffroy Company , founded by Johan Cäsar Godeffroy , which was taken over in 1879 by the German Trading and Plantation Society of the South Sea Islands in Hamburg . In 1881 George Westbrook , who worked for Henderson & Macfarlane , joined Alfred Restieaux on the island of Funafuti. Westbrook, described by Julian Dana in Gods as the greatest adventurer of Western Samoa , was, like Restieaux, also from London. Westbrook and Restieaux became firm friends during their time as traders in Funafuti and were the only two white men on the island. Despite the limited amount of copra on the island, there was never any enmity between the two traders. In 1888 Westbrook left Funafuti with the intention of returning to London and a few years later Alfred Restieaux settled in Nukufetau, where he died in 1911. John "Jack" O'Brien was of Australian- Irish descent and came to Funafuti in the 1850s. He was the first white man in Funafuti and the Ellice group, who was about thirty years ahead of the other white traders. He married Salai, the daughter of the then King of Funafuti, who became the matriarch of a large Tuvalu family.

A well-known Australian author, George Lewis Becke , spent some time as a trader in Tuvalu. Before devoting himself to writing, he traveled extensively in the South Pacific and found employment in the May areas. In early 1880 he took a position at the dealer John S. de Wolf & Co on Nanumanga and finally opened his own business in Nukufetau in February 1881, where he bought the local Nelea Tikena. Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife Fanny Stevenson visited the island of Funafuti in 1890 with the merchant steamer Janet Nichol . They only stayed two days, but Fanny Stevenson recorded the visit in great detail in her diary.

colonialism

The British High Commissioner for the Western Pacific , John Bates Thurston , announced the takeover of the islands by Great Britain

Tuvalu has been under British jurisdiction since 1877 under the former name of the Ellice Islands. In 1890, the British High Commissioner for the Western Pacific , John Bates Thurston , who resided in Fiji , recommended the takeover of the islands by Great Britain in order not only to prevent possible measures by the German Empire , which in 1891 Great Britain added urged the declaration of a protectorate to hinder the US, but also to control labor recruitment, arms and liquor sales, and an end to the growing turmoil within the archipelago. In 1892 the British government realized that failure to declare a protectorate would likely lead to the takeover of Germany despite an 1886 agreement. The Commander in Chief of the Royal Navy units in Australia then sent the warship HMS Royalist under the command of Captain Davis to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands . He did not actually have the order to found a protectorate, but only to visit the islands. Upon his return he reported that the chiefs (Aliki tupu) of the islands had requested the establishment of a protectorate.

Thereupon Captain Gibson was sent to the islands with the corvette HMS Curacoa . There he declared the Gilbert and Ellic Islands a British protectorate between October 9 and 16, 1892. The first resident commissioner was Charles Richard Swayne from 1892 to 1901 , followed by W. Telfer Campbell from 1901 to 1909 and John Quayle Dickson between 1909 and 1913 . In 1913 Edward Carlyon Eliot became the Resident Commissioner for the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. On October 10, 1915, these islands were finally declared a crown colony and as such on January 12, 1916, the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony . Edward Carlyon Eliot was then Resident Commissioner in the new Crown Colony and replaced there in 1921 by Herbert Reginald McClure , who was followed by Arthur Grimble in 1926 . On December 3, 1933 Jack Charles Barley took over the office of Resident Commissioner , who in turn was replaced in 1941 by Vivian Fox-Strangways .

Second World War

With the Marines at Tarawa , US documentary about the Battle of Tarawa, 1944

The Japanese expansion in the Pacific in World War II reached the Gilbert Islands with the invasion of Tarawa in December 1941, were later occupied while other Gilbert Islands. The British colonial administration of the islands was moved from Tarawa to Funafuti, but later moved back to Suva in Fiji. The Japanese intended to advance further south to the Ellice Islands, but heavy casualties in the Battle of Midway from June 4-7, 1942 prevented this. So the US troops were able to arrive first and land on Funafuti in October 1942. There they built a large airfield and installed bunker systems for anti-aircraft cannons.

The Americans then built protective walls and airfields on Nukufetau and Nanumea. All three American-occupied islands were bombed by the Japanese with minimal damage as a rule. The Tuvalu Islands provided important outposts that allowed the Americans to advance north, which eventually led to the Battle of Gilbert Islands , the Tarawa Landing, and the Battle of Makin in November 1943, which ended in an American victory.

The road to independence

After World War II, many Tuvaluans moved to Tarawa , the rebuilt capital of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony. In 1946 Vivian Fox-Strangways was replaced by Henry Evans Maude as Resident Commissioner. There were better job opportunities there, mainly due to post-war reconstruction. However, it was found that the employment opportunities available there increased their number of residents. One reason for this was that the educational system continued to operate in the Ellice Islands during the war, while that of the Gilbertese was not due to the Japanese occupation. This led to rivalries in the civil service and the enforcement of Gilbertese rights. In 1949 John Peel took over the post of Resident Commissioner, but was replaced by Michael Louis Bernacchi in 1952 . In 1957 and 1958, the former colonial power Great Britain carried out nuclear weapon tests in the area of ​​the Gilbert and Ellice Islands . Bernacchi's successor was Valdemar Jens Andersen in May 1962 , who was succeeded by John Osbaldiston Field in 1970 . On January 1, 1972, John Osbaldiston Field became the first governor of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, before John Hilary Smith took this office in 1973 .

Britain prepared the colony for independence by granting self-government in 1974 . However, the residents of Ellice Islands were not pleased at the thought of their administration moving to the Gilbert Islands and began looking for ways to secede. For this reason, the British colonial administration conducted a formal inquiry into the attitudes of the Ellice Islands residents towards secession and announced that a referendum would be held. In this case, the Tuvaluans should decide to stay with the Gilbert Islands or to part with them. Prior to the referendum, it was announced that if they split, they would not receive any further royalties from phosphate mining by the Banaba- based Pacific Phosphate Company (PPC) or any other colony assets. Even so, 3,799 islanders (92 percent) voted for the split and 293 against the split.

On October 1, 1975, the legal separation from the Gilbert Islands (today's Kiribati ) took place. Thomas H. Layng acted as Resident Commissioner from October 1, 1975 to October 1, 1978 . On January 1, 1976, the full administration of the new colony was transferred from Tarawa to Funafuti.

independence

The years 1978 to 1999

Tuvalu state flag
Tuvalu governor's flag

The Ellice Islands became an independent constitutional monarchy and the 38th (special) member of the Commonwealth of Nations on October 1, 1978 under the current name Tuvalu . Fiatao Penitala Teo then became the first governor general of Tuvalu and thus the representative of Queen Elizabeth II , while Toaripi Lauti , who had been chief minister since October 2, 1975, became the first prime minister . On September 8, 1981, Tomasi Puapua took over the post of Prime Minister, while Tupua Leupena became the new Governor General on March 1, 1986. On October 16, 1989, Bikenibeu Paeniu became the new Prime Minister and on October 1, 1990, the former Prime Minister Toaripi Lauti became the new Governor General. On December 1, 1993, Tomu Sione was first the new Governor General and shortly thereafter on December 12, 1993 Kamuta Latasi was the new Prime Minister, while on July 21, 1994 Tulaga Manuella took over the office of Governor General of Tomu Sione.

In a parliamentary motion of no confidence in the Fale i Fono , Tuvalu's parliament, on December 17, 1996, seven of the twelve members of the House of Assembly voted against Prime Minister Kamuta Latasi. Thereupon Bikenibeu Paeniu was again elected Prime Minister for the second time on December 23, 1996. In the parliamentary elections of March 26, 1998, seven of the twelve members of the Fale i Fono were re-elected. Two members have already been members once in the past, while three members have been elected to the House of Assembly for the first time. Among the re-elected MPs were Prime Minister Bikenibeu Paeniu and Speaker Tomasi Puapua. However, the former Prime Minister Kamuta Latasi lost his seat in parliament, in which no formal parties are represented. On April 8, 1998, Kokea Malua became Minister of the Interior. On June 26, 1998, the former Prime Minister and previous Speaker of Parliament Tomasi Puapua became the new Governor General. On April 13, 1999, Prime Minister Bikenibeu Paeniu lost a vote of no confidence, whereupon Ionatana Ionatana was elected as the new Prime Minister on April 27, 1999. His cabinet included Lagitupu Tuilimu as finance minister and Faimalaga Luka as interior minister.

The years 2000 to 2009

Apisai Ielemia was Prime Minister of Tuvalu between 2006 and 2010
Willy Telavi served as Prime Minister between 2010 and 2013

On September 5, 2000, Tuvalu became a full member of the Commonwealth of Nations and 189th member of the United Nations . After Prime Minister Ionatana Ionatana died on December 8, 2000, Deputy Prime Minister Lagitupu Tuilimu took over the post of Prime Minister provisionally. The previous Minister of the Interior, Faimalaga Luka, was elected as the new Prime Minister on February 23, 2001 and sworn in as such on February 24, 2001. On December 13, 2001, the Fale i Fono elected Koloa Talake as the new prime minister after the government of Prime Minister Faimalaga Luka had previously lost a vote of no confidence on December 7, 2001. Talake was sworn in as Prime Minister on December 14, 2001. In the parliamentary elections of July 25, 2002, nine of the now 15th members of the House of Assembly were re-elected, while Prime Minister Koloa Talake and three of his ministers lost their seats. Then Saufatu Sopoanga was elected Prime Minister on August 2, 2002, where he was able to prevail with eight to seven votes against Amasone Kilei . Former Prime Minister Bikenibeu Paeniu took over the post of finance minister in Sopoanga's cabinet, while Otinielu Tausi became interior minister. On September 9, 2003, the former Prime Minister Faimalaga Luka was sworn in as the new Governor General. On October 10, 2003, Leti Pelesala took over the office of Minister of the Interior. On August 25, 2004, the government of Prime Minister Saufatu Sopoanga was subject to a vote of no confidence by six to eight. As a result, Sopoanga resigned as a member of parliament on August 27, 2004, so that Deputy Prime Minister Maatia Toafa became Acting Prime Minister. On August 28, 2004, Governor General Faimalaga Luka made two unsuccessful attempts to elect a new Prime Minister through the Fale i Fono . Due to Tuvalu's constitution , the parliamentary seat that had become vacant through Sopoanga's resignation had to be filled in a by -election beforehand. Maatia Toafa was then elected and sworn in as Prime Minister on October 11, 2004 with eight to seven votes.

On April 15, 2005 Filoimea Telito was sworn in as the new Governor General. In the parliamentary elections on August 3, 2006, seven of the 15 members of Fale i Fono were re-elected, while eight new members were elected to the House of Assembly . All members of Prime Minister Maatia Toafa's cabinet, with the exception of the Prime Minister himself, lost their seats in parliament. As a result, on August 14, 2006, Parliament elected Apisai Ielemia Prime Minister. He also presented his cabinet, in which Lotoala Metia became finance minister and Willy Telavi became interior minister.

The years 2010 to 2019

Iakoba Italeli has been Governor General of Tuvalu since 2010
Enele Sopoaga has been Prime Minister since 2013

On April 16, 2010, Iakoba Taeia Italeli was sworn in as the new Governor General of Tuvalu. In the parliamentary elections on September 16, 2010, ten of the 15 members of the House of Assembly were re-elected, including Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia. Nevertheless, on September 29, 2010 Maatia Toafa was appointed Prime Minister after he had previously been able to prevail in a vote in the Fale i Fono with eight to seven votes against Kausea Natano . Shortly thereafter, Toafa presented his cabinet, to which Enele Sopoaga was appointed foreign minister and Monise Laafai as finance minister, while Willy Telavi kept his post as interior minister.

On December 21, 2010, Prime Minister Toafa lost a vote of no confidence with seven to eight votes. Interior Minister Willy Telavi was then elected as the new Prime Minister, and he was able to prevail against the previous Foreign Minister with eight to seven votes. In the new cabinet, Prime Minister continued to hold the post of Interior Minister, while former Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia became Foreign Minister and Lotoala Metia became Finance Minister. The incumbent finance minister, Lotoala Metia, died on December 19, 2012.

On August 1, 2013, Governor General Sir Iakoba Taeia Italeli dismissed Prime Minister Willy Telavi from office and appointed former Foreign Minister Enele Sopoaga as Prime Minister of a transitional government after the previous government put forward a motion of no confidence. In the vote on this motion of censure, the previous government lost four to eight votes. As a result, Enele Sopoaga was elected the new Prime Minister on August 4, 2013 with eight to five votes. As such, he was sworn in on August 5, 2013 and presented his cabinet, which included Taukelina Finikaso as foreign minister, former two-time prime minister Maatia Toafa as finance minister and Namoliki Neemia as interior minister. In the parliamentary elections on March 31, 2015, the 15 non-party members, including Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga, were re-elected with no opponents. On April 10, 2015, Enele Sopoaga was sworn in again as Prime Minister. His cabinet remained unchanged in key positions.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Great Ploetz. The encyclopedia of world history , Verlag Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 35th edition, 2008, p. 1245, ISBN 978-3-525-32008-2
  2. ↑ Gilbert and Ellice Islands: Resident Commissioners and Governors (rulers.org)
  3. ^ World War II in Tuvalu
  4. ↑ Der Große Ploetz , p. 1783
  5. ↑ Gilbert and Ellice Islands: Resident Commissioners and Governors (rulers.org)
  6. ↑ Der Große Ploetz , p. 1789
  7. ↑ Tuvalu: Governors-General and Prime Ministers (rulers.org)
  8. ↑ Der Große Ploetz , p. 1787
  9. ↑ Tuvalu: December 17, 1996 (rulers.org)
  10. ↑ Tuvalu: March 26, 1998 (rulers.org)
  11. ↑ Tuvalu: April 8 (rulers.org)
  12. ↑ Tuvalu: June 26, 1998 (rulers.org)
  13. ↑ Tuvalu: April 13, 1999 (rulers.org)
  14. ^ Tuvalu at the United Nations
  15. ↑ Der Große Ploetz , p. 1386
  16. ↑ Tuvalu: December 8, 2000 (rulers.org)
  17. ↑ Tuvalu: February 23, 2001 (rulers.org)
  18. ↑ Tuvalu: December 13, 2001 (rulers.org)
  19. ↑ Tuvalu: July 25, 2002 (rulers.org)
  20. ↑ Tuvalu: August 2, 2002 (rulers.org)
  21. ↑ Tuvalu: September 9, 2003 (rulers.org)
  22. ↑ Tuvalu: October 10, 2003 (rulers.org)
  23. ↑ Tuvalu: August 25, 2004 (rulers.org)
  24. ↑ Tuvalu: October 11, 2004 (rulers.org)
  25. ↑ Tuvalu: April 15, 2005 (rulers.org)
  26. ↑ Tuvalu: August 3, 2006 (rulers.org)
  27. ↑ Tuvalu: April 16, 2010 (rulers.org)
  28. ↑ Tuvalu: September 16, 2010 (rulers.org)
  29. ^ Tuvalu: Foreign Ministers
  30. ↑ Tuvalu: December 21, 2010 (rulers.org)
  31. ↑ Tuvalu: December 19, 2012 (rulers.org)
  32. ↑ Tuvalu: August 1, 2013 (rulers.org)
  33. ↑ Tuvalu: March 31, 2015 (rulers.org)
  34. ↑ Tuvalu: April 10, 2015 (rulers.org)