Tuvalu is a very small country in the South Pacific, made of nine little coral islands sitting in a long line in the open sea. It is one of the smallest countries in the world — about eleven thousand people live there, which is fewer than in one Taipei apartment block area. The capital is Funafuti. Before it became independent from Britain in 1978, it was called the Ellice Islands. Two things make it come up in the news. First, the land is extremely low — mostly only a couple of metres above the sea — so when people talk about countries that rising sea levels could take away, Tuvalu is usually the first name said. Its government has talked about moving its people, and even about keeping the country going online if the land goes. Second, Tuvalu was given the internet address ending .tv, and it makes real money renting that ending to television and video websites around the world. Always spelled with a capital T. A person from there is a Tuvaluan.

吐瓦魯（台灣說吐瓦魯，中國大陸多寫圖瓦盧；南太平洋島國，曾是我國邦交國）