Tuvalu
POPULATION 11,146
TUVALU CHRISTIAN CHURCH 92 percent
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST 2.4 percent
BAHAI 1.8 percent
JEHOVAH'S WITNESS 1.3 percent
ROMAN CATHOLIC 0.5 percent
OTHER 2 percent
Country Overview
Introduction
The nation of Tuvalu, part of the Polynesian archipelago in the southwest Pacific Ocean, consists of nine islands in a chain 360 miles long. The total area of these low-lying, coral reef islands is only 9.4 square miles. No point on the islands is more than 15 feet above sea level. Its main crop is coconuts, and its main resource is fishing.
The pre-Christian religion of these islands, formerly known as the Ellice Islands, was suppressed in the late 1800s, though elements may remain in the everyday Christianity that now dominates Tuvaluan identity. The national motto is "Tuvalu mo te Atua," or "Tuvalu and the Almighty." The Tuvaluans see themselves as highly Christian.
Religious Tolerance
The constitution of Tuvalu enshrines tolerance, but new faiths cannot proselytize unless they have existing adherents in the country. The Tuvalu Christian Church is effectively an established (official state) church and has a considerable degree of influence over government policy. While there is some diversity in the capital (on Funafuti Atoll), on the outer islands the church is so dominant that other denominations struggle.
This page contains 201 words.
Tuvalu article
Read the rest of this article.
This article contains 1,979 words
(approx. 7 pages at 300 words per page).
Order our Tuvalu Article
