Tuvalu - The Pacific atoll-island cultural landscape of Tuvalu

Nanumea 5°40’30”S 176°06’56”E Nuitao 6°06’34”S 177°20’03”E Nanumanga 6°17’11”S 176°18’55”E Nui 7°14’44”S 177°08’45”E Vaitupu 7°29’21”S 178°40’47”E Nukafetau 8°01’36”S 178°18’50”E Funafuti 8°31’28”S 179°11’40”E Nukulaelae 9°22’12”S 179°48’31”E Niulakita 10°47’24”S 179°28’16”E The Pacific atoll-island cultural landscape of Tuvalu comprises a series of component parts on Tuvalu’s isolated volcanic archipelago of six atolls and three reef islands located midway between Australia and Hawaii. These low-lying islands are relatively isolated from one another, scattered across a 650-km arc in an exclusive oceanic sovereign economic zone of around 900,000 km2 of the central western Pacific Ocean. No territory is higher than 6 m above sea level. Atolls, mostly concentrated in the tropical Pacific, are commonly ring-shaped and broken into a string of small, low-lying islets that partially, or wholly, encircle a central lagoon. These formed on, and are spaced around, an irregularly shaped barrier reef that follows the rim of a submerged former volcano. Distinct geological and geomorphological origins and processes define atolls, and their limited natural land resources. Atoll-building processes continue in a dynamic that is increasingly influenced by rising sea levels associated with climate change. Three of the ‘outer islands’ of Tuvalu are former atolls in which typical atoll lagoons have been naturally infilled through accretion, leaving landlocked lakes and swamps. These are now classed as reef islands.