Put your thinking caps on and hazard a guess – which nation can be the least world’s least visited nation in the world!
Strange, isn’t it? While travellers are heading to every nook and corner of the world, it is hard to believe that there can be a place which is considered the least visited in the world!
Formerly known as Ellice islands, that consists of 3 reef islands and 6 true atolls, this volcanic archipelago is known as Tuvalu.
Tuvalu hosts just over two thousand tourists a year with only one international airport that was built in 1943 by the United States Navy during World War II and currently by only Fiji Airways.
Where is Tuvalo?
This island country lies halfway between Hawai and Australia, in the west-central Pacific Ocean. With a population of only 12,000 inhabitants, this is one of the smallest countries in the world and has its own currency. Sitting on a ring-shaped oasis, surrounded by a lagoon with islands along the ring, this pristine island with densely planted coconut trees on a slim scar of sand, offers a pleasant average temperature of 27-29 degrees.
However, this archipelago is soon to vanish in the depths of the ocean!
Besides its difficult accessibility, Tuvalu has been added to the list of islands that are most likely to disappear into the ocean in future. Guess the reason!
Reason Behind the Island Disappearing
Climate change is affecting everyone and everything.
If reports from the government are to be believed two of Tuvalu’s nine islands are on the verge of being swallowed due to the rising sea levels and coastal erosion.
Despite the entire nation is coral atolls, the only inhabitable stretches of land are just 3 metres above sea level, and at its narrowest point which is on the largest island of Tavalu called Fongafale, it stretches just 20 meters across. And considering the tides have been rising about 3.9 millimeters per year, soon the islands of Tuvalu will disappear in the depths of the ocean. And believe it or not the total land area that Tuvalu boasts of, accounts for less than 26 sq km.
From increasing temperatures every year, waves battering the islands during storms, frequent storm surges and decreasing rainfall, contaminated underwater supplies due to rising ocean, being completely dependent on rain-water for local produce, porous salty soil rendering the ground for growing local staples useless, the rising cost of food items due to exportation, consumption of fish infected with ciguatera poisoning and eventually affecting human health, increase of climate-related illnesses such as influenza, fungal diseases, conjunctivitis, and dengue fever on the rise – there is hardly much that can be done to recover from the onslaught of climate change.
And with no “Plan B”, in another 50-100 years or lesser, this beautiful island with unblemished beaches, picture-perfect lines of coconut trees, will be gone. Even locals have a catch-phrase “Tuvalu is sinking”.
What this archipelago needs is a “Hail Mary” moment to save it from the clutches of the ever-rising ocean due to the climate change. And I hope they are blessed with one soon!
Discover more from W A N D E R A L O N E
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
