Funafuti

Funafuti is the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 6,320 people (2017 census). More people live in Funafuti than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with it containing approximately 60% of the nation's population. It consists of a narrow sweep of land between 20 and 400 m wide, encircling a large lagoon (Te Namo) 18 km long and 14 km wide. The average depth of the Funafuti lagoon is about 20 fathoms (36.5 meters or 120 feet). With a surface area of 275 km2, it is by far the largest lagoon in Tuvalu. The land area of the 33 islets around the atoll of Funafuti totals 2.4 km2; taken together, they constitute less than one percent of the total area of the atoll. Cargo ships can enter Funafuti's lagoon and dock at the port facilities on Fongafale.

The capital of Tuvalu is sometimes said to be Fongafale or Vaiaku, but, officially, the entire atoll of Funafuti is its capital, since it has a single government that is responsible for the whole atoll.

The installed PV capacity in Funafuti in 2020 was 735 kW compared to 1800 kW of diesel (16% penetration).

History


The oral history of Funafuti is that the founding ancestor came from Samoa. The name of one of the islets, Funafala, means 'the pandanus of Funa' ("Funa" is a word meaning "chief" and is also found in the name of the atoll Funafuti).

The first European to visit Funafuti was Arent Schuyler de Peyster. He was an American from New York, and captain of the armed brigantine or privateer vessel Rebecca, which was sailing under British colors. In May 1819, de Peyster passed through the southern Tuvalu waters, and sighted Funafuti. He named it Ellice's Island, after an English politician, Edward Ellice, who was the member of parliament for Coventry and the owner of the Rebecca's cargo.

In 1841, the United States Exploring Expedition, led by Charles Wilkes, visited Funafuti. The United States claimed Funafuti based on the 1856 Guano Islands Act, and maintained this claim until 1983, when a treaty of friendship, concluded in 1979, went into effect.

In the 1850s, John (Jack) O'Brien became the first European to settle in Tuvalu. He became a trader on Funafuti and married Salai, the daughter of Funafuti's paramount chief; with his family name continuing on Funafuti. Alfred Restieaux, a native of England, lived and worked as a trader on Funafuti from July 1881 until about 1888 or 1889.

In 1882, members of the US Fish Commission visited Funafuti on the USFC Albatross to investigate the formation of coral reefs on Pacific atolls. During that visit, Harry Clifford Fassett, the captain's clerk and a photographer, took pictures of people, communities, and scenery in Funafuti.

George Westbrook, a trader based in Funafuti, recorded a tropical cyclone that struck Funafuti on 23–24 December 1883. At the time the cyclone struck, he was the lone inhabitant of Fongafale, because Tema, a Samoan missionary, had taken everyone else to Funafala to work on erecting a church. The cyclone destroyed the buildings in Fongafale, including the church and the trading stores belonging to George Westbrook and Alfred Restieaux. Little damage occurred at Funafala, however, and the people returned to rebuild at Fongafale.

Thomas Andrew, a photographer, visited Funafuti around 1885–86.

In 1892, Captain Edward Davis of HMS Royalist (1883) provided a report describing the traders and trading activities he observed on each of the islands he visited. Davis identified Jack O'Brien as a trader on Funafuti, and O’Brien was also reported to be living on the atoll in 1896.

In 1894 Count Rudolph Festetics de Tolna, his wife Eila (née Haggin), and her daughter Blanche Haggin visited Funafuti aboard the yacht Le Tolna. The Count spent several days photographing men and woman of Funafuti.

The population of Funafuti during the years 1860 to 1900 is estimated to have been between 280 and 300 people. The Funafuti Post Office opened around 1911.

During the Pacific War (World War II) the Ellice Islands were used as a base to prepare for the subsequent seaborn attacks on the Gilbert Islands (Kiribati) that were occupied by Japanese forces. The United States Marine Corps 5th Defense Battalion landed on Funafuti on 2 October 1942; the operation was kept secret until the Japanese discovered it for themselves on 27 March 1943.

On Funafuti the islanders were shifted to the smaller islets so as to allow the American forces to build an airfield (now Funafuti International Airport), a 76-bed hospital and the Naval Base Funafuti port facilities on Fongafale islet.

In June 1996, the Funafuti Conservation Area was established along the western rim of the reef, encompassing six islets. It has an area of 33 km2 (12 square miles), containing 20 per cent of the reef area of Funafuti. The land area of the six islets in the conservation area is 8 ha (20 acres). Below is a list of the islets in the conservation area, in order from north to south, with their estimated areas in hectares:
 * Tepuka Vilivili, 3
 * Fualopa, 2
 * Fuafatu, 0.2
 * Vasafua, 0.5
 * Fuakea, 1.5
 * Tefala, 1

Darwin's Drill
There is a site on Funafuti called Darwin's Drill, where boreholes were drilled in 1896, 1897 and 1898, by the Royal Society of London, as part of a scientific investigation designed to find out whether traces of shallow-water organisms could be found deep down in the coral. It was intended as a test of Charles Darwin's theory of coral atoll formation. Professor Sollas, the leader of the 1896 expedition, published a report on the study of the atoll. Professor Edgeworth David of the University of Sydney was a member of the 1896 expedition, and the leader of the 1897 expedition. Photographers on the expeditions recorded people, communities and scenes at Funafuti.

In respect of its role in testing the theory, Funafuti atoll was included by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) in its assemblage of 100 'geological heritage sites' around the world in a listing published in October 2022.

In 1972, Funafuti lay in the path of Cyclone Bebe during the 1972–73 South Pacific cyclone season. Bebe was a pre-season tropical cyclone that hit the Gilbert, Ellice, and Fiji island groups. The cyclone system was first spotted on 20 October. It intensified and grew in size through 22 October. At about 4 p.m. on Saturday the 21st, sea water bubbled through the coral on the airfield and rose to a height of about 5 ft. Cyclone Bebe continued to ravage the area through Sunday 22 October. The Ellice Islands Colony's ship Moanaraoi, which was in the lagoon, survived. However, three tuna boats were wrecked. Waves broke over the atoll. Five people died: two adults and a 3-month-old child were swept away by waves, and two sailors who had been in the wrecked tuna boats were drowned. Cyclone Bebe knocked down 90% of the area's houses and trees. The storm surge created a wall of coral rubble along the ocean side of Fongafale and Funafala that was about 10 mi long, and was about 10 ft to 20 ft thick at the bottom. The storm surge also destroyed or contaminated the area's sources of fresh drinking water.

Islands
There are at least 29 islets in the Funafuti atoll. The largest is Fongafale, followed by Funafala. At least three of these islets are inhabited: Fongafale (the main island) in the east, Funafala in the south, and Amatuku in the north.


 * Amatuku
 * Avalau
 * Falaoigo
 * Fale Fatu (or Falefatu)
 * Fatato
 * Fongafale
 * Fuafatu
 * Fuagea
 * Fualefeke (or Fualifeke)
 * Fualopa
 * Funafala
 * Funamanu
 * Luamotu
 * Mateika
 * Motugie
 * Motuloa
 * Mulitefala
 * Papa Elise (or Funangongo)
 * Te Afuafou
 * Te Afualiku
 * Tefala
 * Telele
 * Tengako (peninsula of the island of Fongafale)
 * Tengasu
 * Tepuka
 * Tepuka Vili Vili
 * Tutanga
 * Vasafua

Villages


The district of Funafuti comprises nine villages on six islets, with four of the villages located on Fongafale. They and their populations as of the 2012 census are listed below:

Lagoon
The Funafuti atoll's lagoon (Te Namo in Tuvaluan) is 24.5 km (15$1/4$ miles) long, north to south, and 17.5 km (10$3/4$ miles) wide, east to west, and has an area of 275 km2 (106 sq. mi.), making it by far the largest lagoon in the nation of Tuvalu. It is about 52 metres (28 fathoms) deep in some places, but only 6 metres (3$1/4$ fathoms) deep in other places (because it has several submerged rocks and reefs along its bottom, some of which are that close the surface). The deepest basin is in the northern part of the lagoon (the maximum recorded depth is 54.7 metres [30 fathoms]), while the southern part of the lagoon has a very narrow, shallow basin. The Funafuti Conservation Area is located 15 km across the lagoon from the main island of Fongafale, and is accessed by boat.

Landmarks
Tausoa Lima Falekaupule is the traditional meeting house on Funafuti. Tausoalima means "hand of friendship" and Falekaupule means "traditional island meeting hall." There is the Funafuti Lagoon Hotel, and other guesthouses as well as homes, constructed both in the traditional manner, out of palm fronds, and more recently out of cement blocks. The most prominent building on Funafuti atoll is the Fētu'ao Lima (Morning Star Church) of the Church of Tuvalu.

Other sites of interest are the remains of Japanese aircraft that crashed on Funafuti during World War II. The airfield was constructed during World War II. It was adapted to serve as the Funafuti International Airport, which serves both as the airstrip for the flights from Fiji as well as providing a place for sporting and other recreational activities.

A major sporting event is the "Independence Day Sports Festival" held annually at Fongafale on 1 October. The most important sports event within the country is arguably the Tuvalu Games, which are held yearly since 2008, with teams coming to Funafuti from the outer islands to compete in the games. Football in Tuvalu is played at club and national team level. The Tuvalu national football team trains at the Tuvalu Sports Ground on Funafuti and competes in the Pacific Games and South Pacific Games.

The Parliament of Tuvalu or Palamene o Tuvalu is located on Fongafale, together with the offices of the government departments and the government agencies, including the Tuvalu Telecommunications Corporation, National Bank of Tuvalu, Tuvalu Philatelic Bureau, Tuvalu Meteorological Service, Tuvalu National Library and Archives and the Tuvalu Media Department that operates Radio Tuvalu. The police service has its headquarters and the jail on Fongafale. The High Court of Tuvalu is also located on Fongafale.

The Princess Margaret Hospital, the only hospital in Tuvalu, is located on Fongafale.

Climate


Funafuti has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification Af). Because it experiences frequent cyclones, it is not considered to have an equatorial climate. It sees an extraordinary amount of rainfall throughout the year, being the fourth-wettest national capital in the world behind Monrovia, Freetown and Conakry. Unlike those West African capitals, Funafuti has no dry season: the town has no month in which less than 200 mm rain falls, and an average of about 3500 mm of precipitation annually. As is common in many areas with a tropical rainforest climate, the temperature varies little during the year; average daily temperatures hover around 28 C year-round.

Transportation
Funafuti International Airport is located on Fongafale.

Fiji Airways, the owner of Fiji Airlines (trading as Fiji Link) operates air transport services three times per week (on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) between Suva and Funafuti. The flights originate in Nadi, and use ATR 72-600 aircraft, which can carry up to 68 passengers.

Fongafale has port facilities and two passenger/cargo ships, Nivaga III and Manu Folau, which make roundtrips between Fongafale and the outer islands about once every three or four weeks, and also travel between Suva, Fiji, and Funafuti about three or four times a year.

In 2015 the Japanese government donated a ship, the Nivaga III, to Tuvalu, to replace the Nivaga II, which had served Tuvalu since 1989.

Politics
The Funafuti Falekaupule is the local council, with the Kaupule as the executive of the Falekaupule. On Fongafale, the Funafuti Kaupule is responsible for approvals of the construction of houses or extension to an existing buildings on private land and the Lands Management Committee is the responsible authority in relation to lands leased by Government.

Funafuti is one of the eight constituencies in Tuvalu, and elects two members of parliament. In the 2024 general election, Simon Kofe was re-elected, Tuafafa Latasi was elected, however Kausea Natano was not re-elected to parliament.

Education


Four tertiary institutions on Funafuti offer technical and vocational courses: Tuvalu Maritime Training Institute (TMTI), Tuvalu Atoll Science Technology Training Institute (TASTII), Australian Pacific Training Coalition (APTC) and University of the South Pacific (USP) Extension Centre.

There are two junior schools, the Seventh Day Adventist Primary School and Nauti Primary School, which has a register of more than 900 pupils and is the largest primary school in Tuvalu (45 per cent of the total primary school enrollment).

The Church of Tuvalu operates Fetuvalu Secondary School. The University of the South Pacific (USP) Extension Centre on Funafuti operates the Augmented Foundation Programme for sixth form students who pass their Pacific Secondary School Certificate (PSSC) so that the students can enter tertiary education programmes outside of Tuvalu. The Tuvalu Maritime Training Institute (TMTI) is located on Amatuku motu (islet).

Notable people

 * Sir Toaripi Lauti, (28 November 1928 – 25 May 2014): first Chief Minister of the Ellice Islands (from 2 October 1975 to 1 October 1978); first Prime Minister of Tuvalu (from 1 October 1978 to 8 September 1981); third Governor General of Tuvalu (from 1 October 1990 to 1 December 1993).
 * Sir Kamuta Latasi, (born 1936): fourth Prime Minister of Tuvalu (from 1993 to 1996); Speaker of the Parliament of Tuvalu (2006 to September 2010, and December 2010 to March 2014).
 * Kausea Natano (born 5 July 1957) was the 13th Prime Minister of Tuvalu (from 19 September 2019 to 26 February 2024). He represented Funafuti as a Member of Parliament from the 2002 Tuvaluan general election until the 2024 Tuvaluan general election.