Talk:Tuvalu

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[edit] km2

I'm wondering why the "km2" stuff showed up on this edit. I didn't touch it. Perhaps this is a bug.

A couple of questions; first, what web browser are you using? What version of it, and what operating system are you running? Second, are these: 222222222222222222222 superscript numeral twos interspersed with regular numeral twos, or just a bunch of regular numeral twos? If the former, check again after you save your edit.
My first-order hypothesis is that your web browser sneakily changed the superscript twos into regular twos without your knowledge or consent. --Brion
That's quite possible. Mac OS 9.1, IE 5.0. It's never been known for it's reliability. To address the other question, your superscript 2s were showing up just fine until I did a preview of this talk post, and now they're all the same. Is this just on my end?Hephaestos
Omniweb 4.1 on Mac OS 10.2 seems to have done the trick. Hephaestos

[edit] The Evacuation

How many of the Tuvaluans will leave the islands? Surely not all? --Menchi 18:04, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Kyoto?? and sea level falling

"while Australia has refused the Tuvaluans' petitions, presumably based on that country's rejection of the underlying basis of the Kyoto Protocol."

Maybe I'm missing something, but what does the Kyoto Protocol have to do with anything? I can't figure out why that bit is there.

The proposed possible evacuation of Tuvalu is due to anticipated effects of global warming: that the sea level will rise enough to cover much or all of the islands. The Kyoto Protocol is a treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to help reduce or reverse global warming due to the greenhouse effect. So it sounds like this excerpt from the article is just saying that since, officially, Australia doesn't "believe in" global warming, it refuses to accept the claim that Tuvalu might need to be evacuated due to global warming. I agree that saying "the underlying basis of the Kyoto Protocol" is a very obtuse way of referring to global warming. I think the article should be changed to say something like "... presumably based on the Australian government's rejection of the reality of global warming." However, I don't know what Australia's exact position is, so I won't change the article.
Also this article should mantion that there is possible danger tuvalu beeing flooded because of global warming, I read about that in the global warming effects article but it's not mentioned at all in the tuvalu article --Defufna 18:50, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

Edit. removed sea levels falling. the two references are completely unscientific, one is a british tabloid, the other a right wing newspaper. furthermore the UK telegraph is misquted, although it does say that recent measurements showed a decrease it qualified the statement by saying (as the do the scientists who did the study) that it is a blip in the readings caused by local effects of el nino, and that the records show that over the past 30 years sea levels have been rising. the second reference includes wording such as "new zealand has been duped into taking tuvaluen immigrants by fanatical left wing scare mongers" - hardly objective. a scientific debate is defined by peer reviewed aticles in science journals NOT newspaper articles by journalists. if the rise or fall of sea level is referenced it should be to reputable sources ie peer reviewed scientific journals, not tabloids.

[edit] Kiribati language

Check if "I-Kiribati" is an appropriate name for the Kiribati_language. Apokrif 09:12, 17 Mar 2005 (UTC)

It is not. It means People of Kiribati (or Gilbertese).-Enzino 19:51, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Capital

According to the CIA Factbook the capital city is called Funafuti (located on the atoll with the same name). Look at this link: CIA Factbook - Tuvalu Mnemo 22:21, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

This is correct.

The CIA Factbook is not always a reliable source of information. Hardly surprising, considering past blunders by US intelligence (bombing the Chinese embassy in Belgrade; weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and so on). Funafuti is the name of the atoll, Fongafale the name of the island within the atoll where the capital is located. Skinsmoke 05:31, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Population

The article gives two different population counts for 2005: 11,636 and 9,403. So which is it?

I don't know where the latter figure came from. 11,636 is what the CIA World Factbook gives, so I've corrected the second figure. I've also updated Demographics of Tuvalu with more current figures.-gadfium 18:44, 23 February 2006 (UTC)

I have amended the population figures on the main page to show the 2002 Census results, rather than the CIA 2005 estimate, as this equals the total of the island populations. I have left the 2005 estimate on the Demographics of Tuvalu page. Skinsmoke 05:34, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Economy section: NPOV

I have reviewed the "Economy" section in all country articles on Wikipedia; unfortunately, many of them have NPOV issues, and by my reading, this article is one of them.

Common issues with this section include:

  • verbatim quotes from the CIA world factbook
  • describing a country's economic policy as "sound", "unsound", "imprudent", etc.
  • assuming a link between economic health and low inflation
  • using expressions like "the GDP improved" (should be increased), "beneficial levels of inflation" (should be low levels of inflation), etc.
  • postulating cause-effect relationships that seem controversial.

Issues in this specific article are:

  • judgment of government actions
    • "Thanks to wise investments and conservative withdrawals, this Fund grew from an initial $17 million to over $35 million in 1999": this appears to suggest a growth rate that was somehow very good, though the numbers suggest a rather average 5.6% p.a. growth; it's also not clear whether any money was put into the fund.
  • unsourced dubious statement
    • "Royalties from these new technology sources could raise GDP three-fold or more over the next decade, but it is not likely to reach the lofty numbers which Tuvalu was initially promised."

This note will stay up for a week before I'll make any further changes. Please feel free to be bold and fix the article yourself, though! I'll also be monitoring this discussion page, and will try answering any concerns.

If you want to discuss the entire project, you can do so on my talk page or at the talk page for this specific prject.

(Note: this is only the third country page I'm trying this on, and I haven't gotten any comments so far, so please let me know what you think about the idea.)

RandomP 11:36, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tourism Link

I added a link for Timeless Tuvalu, the official tourism website. I thought that was an important link. Inkan1969 16:26, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed WikiProject

In my ongoing efforts to try to include every country on the planet included in the scope of a WikiProject, I have proposed a new project on Polynesia at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#Polynesia whose scope would include Tuvalu. Any interested parties are more than welcome to add their names there, so we can see if there is enough interest to start such a project. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 17:21, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Tuvaluan Scouting

Can someone render "Be Prepared", the Scout Motto, into Tuvaluan? Thanks! Chris 06:55, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Global Warming and rising sea levels

Found this link in reuters - Rising Sea Levels about Tuvalu potentially being flooded within the next 30 - 50 years. Apprantly there is talk under way to potentially evacute the nation to New Zealand if this happens.--Floorwalker 02:09, 14 September 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Tuvalu on globalEDGE

The link I posted was removed, however I feel that the globalEDGE website is a necessary and important portal of information regarding international business and has much to offer that isn't currently on any of the links that are on this page. Nbashaw 18:00, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

The site acknowledges its sources as being the CIA World Factbook and the U.S. Dept. of State Country Background Notes. It appears to be just a repackaging of these sources. I don't see how this adds significant value to the article.-gadfium 20:09, 17 October 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Tuvalu Districts

There seems to be an error at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuvalu In the Districts section, it states that there are nine islands in Tuvalu. In the next paragraph, however, it goes on to say that there are six districts that consist of more than one island each and three districts that consist of only one island each, meaning that there would have to be a minimum of 15 islands (6*2+3*1). Are there only nine islands or fifteen or more islands in Tuvalu? I do not think that twelve (or more) plus three equals nine (even in Tuvalu). —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cheerful-Pickle (talk • contribs) 09:20, 21 November 2007 (UTC)

It was confusing. There are nine atolls in Tuvalu. Most consist of several smaller islets, but in some these islets are fused together so there is only one island forming the atoll. The table just below the Districts section may make this simpler, and I've changed the word islands to islets in one place since "island" can mean either islet or atoll.-gadfium 18:50, 21 November 2007 (UTC)