Isle of Man (2008) | Tuvalu (2007) | |
Administrative divisions | none; there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 24 local authorities each with its own elections | none |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 17.1% (male 6,645/female 6,330)
15-64 years: 65.8% (male 25,085/female 24,840) 65 years and over: 17.1% (male 5,232/female 7,699) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years: 29.8% (male 1,821/female 1,752)
15-64 years: 65.2% (male 3,808/female 4,006) 65 years and over: 5% (male 227/female 378) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | cereals, vegetables; cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry | coconuts; fish |
Airports | 1 (2007) | 1 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007) |
- |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007) |
Area | total: 572 sq km
land: 572 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 26 sq km
land: 26 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly more than three times the size of Washington, DC | 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | Part of the Norwegian Kingdom of the Hebrides until the 13th century when it was ceded to Scotland, the isle came under the British crown in 1765. Current concerns include reviving the almost extinct Manx Gaelic language. Isle of Man is a British crown dependency, but is not part of the UK. However, the UK Government remains constitutionally responsible for its defense and international representation. | In 1974, ethnic differences within the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands caused the Polynesians of the Ellice Islands to vote for separation from the Micronesians of the Gilbert Islands. The following year, the Ellice Islands became the separate British colony of Tuvalu. Independence was granted in 1978. In 2000, Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name ".tv" for $50 million in royalties over a 12-year period. |
Birth rate | 10.96 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 22.43 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $965 million
expenditures: $943 million (FY05/06 est.) |
revenues: $22.78 million
expenditures: $14.23 million (2002) |
Capital | name: Douglas
geographic coordinates: 54 09 N, 4 29 W time difference: UTC 0 (five hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
name: Funafuti
geographic coordinates: 8 30 S, 179 12 E time difference: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: administrative offices are located in Vaiaku Village on Fongafale Islet |
Climate | temperate; cool summers and mild winters; overcast about one-third of the time | tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March) |
Coastline | 160 km | 24 km |
Constitution | unwritten; note - The Isle of Man Constitution Act of 1961 does not embody the unwritten Manx Constitution | 1 October 1978 |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Isle of Man abbreviation: I.O.M. |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Tuvalu local long form: none local short form: Tuvalu former: Ellice Islands note: "Tuvalu" means "group of eight," referring to the country's eight traditionally inhabited islands |
Death rate | 11.1 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 7 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $NA | $NA |
Dependency status | British crown dependency | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (British crown dependency) | the US does not have an embassy in Tuvalu; the US ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Tuvalu |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (British crown dependency) | Tuvalu does not have an embassy in the US - the country's only diplomatic post is in Fiji - Tuvalu does, however, have a UN office located at 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400D, New York, NY 10017, telephone: [1] (212) 490-0534 |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA | $13 million; note - major donors are Australia, Japan, and the US (1999 est.) |
Economy - overview | Offshore banking, manufacturing, and tourism are key sectors of the economy. The government offers incentives to high-technology companies and financial institutions to locate on the island; this has paid off in expanding employment opportunities in high-income industries. As a result, agriculture and fishing, once the mainstays of the economy, have declined in their shares of GDP. The Isle of Man also attracts online gambling sites and the film industry. Trade is mostly with the UK. The Isle of Man enjoys free access to EU markets. | Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of nine coral atolls with poor soil. The country has no known mineral resources and few exports. Subsistence farming and fishing are the primary economic activities. Fewer than 1,000 tourists, on average, visit Tuvalu annually. Government revenues largely come from the sale of stamps and coins and remittances from seamen on merchant ships abroad. About 1,000 Tuvaluans are being repatriated from Nauru, with the decline of phosphate resources there. Substantial income is received annually from an international trust fund established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea. Thanks to wise investments and conservative withdrawals, this fund grew from an initial $17 million to over $35 million in 1999. The US Government is also a major revenue source for Tuvalu because of payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries. In an effort to reduce its dependence on foreign aid, the government is pursuing public sector reforms, including privatization of some government functions and personnel cuts of up to 7%. Tuvalu derives around $1.5 million per year from the lease of its ".tv" Internet domain name. With merchandise exports only a fraction of merchandise imports, continued reliance must be placed on fishing and telecommunications license fees, remittances from overseas workers, official transfers, and income from overseas investments. |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Irish Sea 0 m
highest point: Snaefell 621 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 5 m |
Environment - current issues | waste disposal (both household and industrial); transboundary air pollution | since there are no streams or rivers and groundwater is not potable, most water needs must be met by catchment systems with storage facilities (the Japanese Government has built one desalination plant and plans to build one other); beachhead erosion because of the use of sand for building materials; excessive clearance of forest undergrowth for use as fuel; damage to coral reefs from the spread of the Crown of Thorns starfish; Tuvalu is concerned about global increases in greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on rising sea levels, which threaten the country's underground water table; in 2000, the government appealed to Australia and New Zealand to take in Tuvaluans if rising sea levels should make evacuation necessary |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Manx (Norse-Celtic descent), Britons | Polynesian 96%, Micronesian 4% |
Exchange rates | Manx pounds per US dollar - 0.4993 (2007), 0.5418 (2006), 0.5493 (2005), 0.5462 (2004), 0.6125 (2003)
note: the Manx pound is at par with the British pound |
Tuvaluan dollars or Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3285 (2006), 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Lord of Mann Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Lieutenant Governor Sir Paul K. HADDACKS (since 17 October 2005)
head of government: Chief Minister Tony BROWN (since 14 December 2006) cabinet: Council of Ministers elections: the monarch is hereditary; lieutenant governor appointed by the monarch for a five-year term; the chief minister is elected by the Tynwald; election last held 14 December 2006 (next to be held in December 2008) election results: House of Keys speaker Tony BROWN elected chief minister by the Tynwald |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Filoimea TELITO (since 15 April 2005)
head of government: Prime Minister Apisai IELEMIA (since 14 August 2006) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; prime minister and deputy prime minister elected by and from the members of Parliament; election last held 14 August 2006 (next to be held following parliamentary elections in 2010) election results: Apisai IELEMIA elected Prime Minister in a Parliamentary election on 14 August 2006 |
Exports | $NA | $1 million f.o.b. (2004 est.) |
Exports - commodities | tweeds, herring, processed shellfish, beef, lamb | copra, fish |
Exports - partners | UK (2006) | Germany 60.5%, Italy 20.1%, Fiji 6.9% (2006) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | red with the Three Legs of Man emblem (Trinacria), in the center; the three legs are joined at the thigh and bent at the knee; in order to have the toes pointing clockwise on both sides of the flag, a two-sided emblem is used | light blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the outer half of the flag represents a map of the country with nine yellow five-pointed stars symbolizing the nine islands |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 1%
industry: 13% services: 86% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: 16.6%
industry: 27.2% services: 56.2% (2002) |
GDP - real growth rate | 5.2% (2005) | 1.2% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 54 15 N, 4 30 W | 8 00 S, 178 00 E |
Geography - note | one small islet, the Calf of Man, lies to the southwest, and is a bird sanctuary | one of the smallest and most remote countries on Earth; six of the 9 coral atolls - Nanumea, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, and Nukulaelae - have lagoons open to the ocean; Nanumaya and Niutao have landlocked lagoons; Niulakita does not have a lagoon |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $NA | $9.186 million c.i.f. (2004 est.) |
Imports - commodities | timber, fertilizers, fish | food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods |
Imports - partners | UK (2006) | Fiji 46.1%, Japan 18.9%, China 18.2%, Australia 7.7%, NZ 4.1% (2006) |
Independence | none (British crown dependency) | 1 October 1978 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3.2% (FY96/97) | NA% |
Industries | financial services, light manufacturing, tourism | fishing, tourism, copra |
Infant mortality rate | total: 5.72 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 6.67 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.72 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
total: 18.9 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 21.64 deaths/1,000 live births female: 16.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.1% (December 2006 est.) | 3.9% (2005 est.) |
International organization participation | UPU | ACP, AsDB, C, FAO, IFRCS (observer), IMO, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO |
Irrigated land | 0 sq km | NA |
Judicial branch | High Court of Justice (justices are appointed by the Lord Chancellor of England on the nomination of the lieutenant governor) | High Court (a chief justice visits twice a year to preside over its sessions; its rulings can be appealed to the Court of Appeal in Fiji); eight Island Courts (with limited jurisdiction) |
Labor force | 39,690 (2001) | 3,615 (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture, forestry, and fishing 3%, manufacturing 11%, construction 10%, transport and communication 8%, wholesale and retail distribution 11%, professional and scientific services 18%, public administration 6%, banking and finance 18%, tourism 2%, entertainment and catering 3%, miscellaneous services 10% (2001) | note: people make a living mainly through exploitation of the sea, reefs, and atolls and from wages sent home by those abroad (mostly workers in the phosphate industry and sailors) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land: 9%
permanent crops: 0% other: 91% (permanent pastures, forests, mountain, and heathland) (2002) |
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 66.67% other: 33.33% (2005) |
Languages | English, Manx Gaelic | Tuvaluan, English, Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui) |
Legal system | the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply and Manx statutes | NA |
Legislative branch | bicameral Tynwald consists of the Legislative Council (11 seats; members composed of the President of Tynwald, the Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man, a nonvoting attorney general, and 8 others named by the House of Keys) and the House of Keys (24 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Keys - last held 23 November 2006 (next to be held in November 2011) election results: House of Keys - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Liberal Vannin Party 2, Man Labor Party 1, independents 21 |
unicameral Parliament or Fale I Fono, also called House of Assembly (15 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 3 August 2006 (next to be held in 2010) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - independents 15 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 78.64 years
male: 75.3 years female: 82.17 years (2007 est.) |
total population: 68.63 years
male: 66.38 years female: 70.99 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
NA |
Location | Western Europe, island in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland | Oceania, island group consisting of nine coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia |
Map references | Europe | Oceania |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total: 297 ships (1000 GRT or over) 8,377,775 GRT/13,890,881 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 33, cargo 65, chemical tanker 54, combination ore/oil 1, container 17, liquefied gas 34, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 74, refrigerated cargo 5, roll on/roll off 8, vehicle carrier 5 foreign-owned: 210 (Cyprus 4, Denmark 41, France 2, Germany 61, Greece 48, Ireland 1, Italy 1, Japan 4, Monaco 3, Netherlands 1, Norway 33, Singapore 2, Sweden 3, Turkey 2, US 4) (2007) |
total: 74 ships (1000 GRT or over) 568,759 GRT/928,697 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 4, cargo 45, chemical tanker 5, container 2, passenger 2, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 13, refrigerated cargo 1, specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: 61 (China 25, Hong Kong 10, Kenya 1, Maldives 1, Romania 1, Russia 4, Singapore 13, Thailand 1, Turkey 1, US 1, Vietnam 3) (2007) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK | - |
Military branches | - | no regular military forces; Police Force |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | NA |
National holiday | Tynwald Day, 5 July | Independence Day, 1 October (1978) |
Nationality | noun: Manxman (men), Manxwoman (women)
adjective: Manx |
noun: Tuvaluan(s)
adjective: Tuvaluan |
Natural hazards | NA | severe tropical storms are usually rare, but, in 1997, there were three cyclones; low level of islands make them sensitive to changes in sea level |
Natural resources | none | fish |
Net migration rate | 5.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | Alliance for Progressive Government; Liberal Vannin Party [Peter KARRAN]; Man Labor Party; Man Nationalist Party (Mec Vannin) [Bernard MOFFATT]
note: most members sit as independents |
there are no political parties but members of Parliament usually align themselves in informal groupings |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | none |
Population | 75,831 (July 2007 est.) | 11,992 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA% |
Population growth rate | 0.513% (2007 est.) | 1.543% (2007 est.) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (2004) |
Railways | total: 65 km
standard gauge: 7 km 1.067-m gauge (7 km electrified) narrow gauge: 58 km 0.914-m gauge (29 km electrified) note: primarily summer tourist attractions (2006) |
- |
Religions | Anglican, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Society of Friends | Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1.4%, Baha'i 1%, other 0.6% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.951 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.039 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.951 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.601 male(s)/female total population: 0.954 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 16 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: landline, telefax, mobile cellular telephone system international: fiber-optic cable, microwave radio relay, satellite earth station, submarine cable |
general assessment: serves particular needs for internal communications
domestic: radiotelephone communications between islands international: country code - 688; international calls can be made by satellite |
Telephones - main lines in use | 51,000 (1999) | 700 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 0 (2004) |
Television broadcast stations | 0 (receives broadcasts from the UK and satellite) (1999) | 0 (2004) |
Terrain | hills in north and south bisected by central valley | very low-lying and narrow coral atolls |
Total fertility rate | 1.65 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 2.96 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 1.5% (December 2006 est.) | NA% |