Tuvalu, formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia.

It comprises three reef islands and six true atolls spread out between the latitude of 5° to 10° south and longitude of 176° to 180°, west of the International Date Line.

Tuvalu's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers an oceanic area of approximately 900,000 km2.

Its nearest neighbors are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji.

Its population of 10,837 makes it the third-least populous sovereign state in the world, with only the Vatican City and Nauru having fewer inhabitants.

In terms of physical land size, at just 26 square kilometers (10 sq mi) Tuvalu is the fourth smallest country in the world, larger only than the Vatican City at 0.44 km2 (0.17 sq mi), Monaco at 1.98 km2 (0.76 sq mi), and Nauru at 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi).The first inhabitants of Tuvalu are Polynesians.

In 1568, Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña sails through the islands and is understood to have sighted Nui during his expedition in search of Terra Australis.

In 1819, the island of Funafuti is named Ellice's Island; the name Ellice is applied to all nine islands after the work of English hydrographer Alexander George Findlay (1812–1876).

The islands come under Britain's sphere of influence in the late 19th century, when each of the Ellice Islands is declared a British protectorate by Captain Gibson R.N., of HMS Curacoa, between October 9 and 16, 1892.

The Ellice Islands are administered as British protectorate by a Resident Commissioner from 1892 to 1916 as part of the British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT), and later as part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony from 1916 to 1974.A referendum is held in December 1974 to determine whether the Gilbert Islands and Ellice Islands should each have their own administration.

As a consequence of the referendum, the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony ceasea to exist on January 1, 1976 and the separate British colonies of Kiribati and Tuvalu come into existence.

Tuvalu becomes fully independent within the Commonwealth on October 1, 1978.