Tuvalu - History

The population of Tuvalu, formerly known as the Ellice or Lagoon Islands, is thought to have dropped from 20,000 in 1850 to 3,000 in 1875, thanks to slave-traders and imported European diseases. The Gilbert and Ellice Islands Protectorate was established by Britain in 1892 (the Gilbert Islands are now called Kiribati) and the protectorate became a colony in 1916.

A referendum held in 1974 established that most Ellice islanders wanted separate status from the Gilbert Islands. The country was renamed Tuvalu, an old name meaning ‘eight standing together’ (Tuvalu has nine islands or island groups, but one has very little land above sea level). The Ellice Islands became a separate British dependency in October 1975, and gained independence as Tuvalu on 1 October 1978.

Toaripi Lauti, chief minister of the Tuvalu House of Assembly from October 1975, was independent Tuvalu’s first prime minister (1978–81). He was succeeded by Dr Tomasi Puapua from 1981. Puapua was defeated in the September 1989 elections by Bikenibeu Paeniu.

In February 2000, the UN accepted Tuvalu as the organisation’s 189th member and in September 2000 it became a full member of the Commonwealth, having been a special member since it joined in 1978.