Geography & environment — Tuvalu
Location, land area, terrain, climate, and natural resources.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Geography & environment at a glance
Location, land area, terrain, climate, and natural resources. Key figure for Tuvalu: Oceania
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Location & size
- Geographic Location
Oceania
- Geographic Coordinates
8 00 S, 178 00 E
- Total Area
10 Square Miles 26 Square Kilometers
- Land Area
10 Square Miles 26 Square Kilometers
- Coastline
15 Miles 24 Kilometers
Physical geography
- Terrain
very low-lying and narrow coral atolls
- Highest Point
5 Meters
- Highest Point Location
unnamed location 5 m
- Lowest Point Location
Pacific Ocean 0 m
- Natural Resources
fish
Climate & time
- Time Zone
UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Climate
- Climate
- tropical
- moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November)
- westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March)
- Terrain
very low-lying and narrow coral atolls
- Location
Oceania, island group consisting of nine coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia
- Total Area
10 Square Miles 26 Square Kilometers
Environment
- Environment - Current Issues
- 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 very 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