Tuvalu

Tuvaluan children. *Photo from Wikipedia October 1 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Tuvalu from United Kingdom in 1978. In 1568, Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña was the first European to sail through the archipelago. In 1819, the name Ellice was applied to all nine islands after the work of English hydrographer Alexander George Findlay. The islands came under Britain’s sphere of influence in the late 19th century, when each of the Ellice Islands was declared a British Protectorate between October 9 and 16, 1892. The Ellice Islands were administered as British protectorate from 1892 to 1974. A referendum