Tuvalu

qas: question: What is the previous name of Tuvalu?
answers: text: Ellice Islands

question: In which ocean is Tuvalu found?
answers: text: Pacific Ocean

question: Between what land areas is Tuvalu located?
answers: text: Hawaii and Australia

question: According the the 2012 census, how many people live on the Tuvalu islands?
answers: text: 10,640

question: What originally formed the Tuvalu islands?
answers: text: reef
context: Tuvalu (i/tuːˈvɑːluː/ too-VAH-loo or /ˈtuːvəluː/ TOO-və-loo), formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. It comprises three reef islands and six true atolls spread out between the latitude of 5° to 10° south and longitude of 176° to 180°, west of the International Date Line. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. Tuvalu has a population of 10,640 (2012 census). The total land area of the islands of Tuvalu is 26 square kilometres (10 sq mi).

qas: question: In what year was Tuvalu discovered by a European?
answers: text: 1568

question: Who was the discoverer of Tuvalu?
answers: text: Álvaro de Mendaña

question: What land mass was de Mendana actually seeking?
answers: text: Terra Australis

question: What was Tuvalu named in 1819?
answers: text: Ellice Islands

question: By what means did the British govern Tuvalu?
answers: text: British protectorate
context: In 1568, Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña was the first European to sail through the archipelago, sighting the island of Nui during his expedition in search of Terra Australis. In 1819 the island of Funafuti was named Ellice's Island; 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 by Captain Gibson of HMS Curacoa between 9 and 16 October 1892. The Ellice Islands were administered as British protectorate by a Resident Commissioner from 1892 to 1916 as part of the British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT), and then as part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony from 1916 to 1974.

qas: question: How many years ago did migrations of people happen in the Pacific area?
answers: text: 3000 years

question: By what means did locale people travel between Pacific islands?
answers: text: canoe

question: How many islands are in the Tuvalu group?
answers: text: nine islands

question: On how many of Tuvalu's islands did people live?
answers: text: Eight

question: What is the native language meaning of Tuvalu?
answers: text: eight standing together
context: The origins of the people of Tuvalu are addressed in the theories regarding migration into the Pacific that began about 3000 years ago. During pre-European-contact times there was frequent canoe voyaging between the nearer islands including Samoa and Tonga. Eight of the nine islands of Tuvalu were inhabited; thus the name, Tuvalu, means "eight standing together" in Tuvaluan (compare to *walo meaning "eight" in Proto-Austronesian). Possible evidence of fire in the Caves of Nanumanga may indicate human occupation for thousands of years.

qas: question: What is the creation myth of Tuvalu?
answers: text: te Pusi mo te Ali

question: What does the flounder of the Tuvalu myth represent?
answers: text: flat atolls

question: What does the eel of the Tuvalu creation myth represent?
answers: text: coconut palms

question: From what land did the people of Niutao believe they came?
answers: text: Samoa

question: From where did the people of the island of Nanumea think they came?
answers: text: Tonga
context: An important creation myth of the islands of Tuvalu is the story of the te Pusi mo te Ali (the Eel and the Flounder) who created the islands of Tuvalu; te Ali (the flounder) is believed to be the origin of the flat atolls of Tuvalu and the te Pusin (the Eel) is the model for the coconut palms that are important in the lives of Tuvaluans. The stories as to the ancestors of the Tuvaluans vary from island to island. On Niutao, Funafuti and Vaitupu the founding ancestor is described as being from Samoa; whereas on Nanumea the founding ancestor is described as being from Tonga.

qas: question: What explorer traveled through the Tuvalu islands in 1764?
answers: text: Captain John Byron

question: What was Captain Byron doing when he visited Tuvalu?
answers: text: circumnavigation of the globe

question: How did Byron name the Tuvalu islands?
answers: text: Lagoon Islands

question: Which island of Tuvalu was identified as the one that Mourelle sailed past in 1781?
answers: text: Niutao

question: When were chronometers available for accurate location charting? 
answers: text: late 18th
context: Captain John Byron passed through the islands of Tuvalu in 1764 during his circumnavigation of the globe as captain of the Dolphin (1751). Byron charted the atolls as Lagoon Islands. Keith S. Chambers and Doug Munro (1980) identified Niutao as the island that Francisco Mourelle de la Rúa sailed past on 5 May 1781, thus solving what Europeans had called The Mystery of Gran Cocal. Mourelle's map and journal named the island El Gran Cocal ('The Great Coconut Plantation'); however, the latitude and longitude was uncertain. Longitude could only be reckoned crudely as accurate chronometers were unavailable until the late 18th century.

qas: question: When did Arent Schuyler de Peyster visit Tuvalu?
answers: text: May 1819

question: Which of the Tuvalu isalnds did de Peyster see?
answers: text: Nukufetau and Funafuti

question: What name did de Peyster give the Tuvalu islands?
answers: text: Ellice's Island

question: For whom did de Peyster name Ellice's Island?
answers: text: Edward Ellice

question: After Findlay's charting how many islands of the group were named Ellice?
answers: text: all nine islands
context: The next European to visit was Arent Schuyler de Peyster, of New York, captain of the armed brigantine or privateer Rebecca, sailing under British colours, which passed through the southern Tuvaluan waters in May 1819; de Peyster sighted Nukufetau and Funafuti, which he named Ellice's Island after an English Politician, Edward Ellice, the Member of Parliament for Coventry and the owner of the Rebecca's cargo. The name Ellice was applied to all nine islands after the work of English hydrographer Alexander George Findlay.

qas: question: In what years did Peruvian ships seek laborers in the Polynesian islands?
answers: text: 1862–63

question: What was the name applied to the trade of dealing with labor hunters?
answers: text: blackbirding

question: By what means did Blackbirders often get islanders aboard their ships?
answers: text: tricks

question: Who was the earliest missionary to Tuvalu?
answers: text: Rev. A. W. Murray

question: When did Murray report people missing because of Blackbirders?
answers: text: 1863
context: For less than a year between 1862–63, Peruvian ships, engaged in what became to be called the "blackbirding" trade, combed the smaller islands of Polynesia from Easter Island in the eastern Pacific to Tuvalu and the southern atolls of the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati), seeking recruits to fill the extreme labour shortage in Peru. While some islanders were voluntary recruits the "blackbirders" were notorious for enticing islanders on to ships with tricks, such as pretending to be Christian missionaries, as well as kidnapping islanders at gun point. The Rev. A. W. Murray, the earliest European missionary in Tuvalu, reported that in 1863 about 170 people were taken from Funafuti and about 250 were taken from Nukulaelae, as there were fewer than 100 of the 300 recorded in 1861 as living on Nukulaelae.

qas: question: When did Christianity arrive in Tuvalu?
answers: text: 1861

question: What church deacon was washed ashore on Nukulaelae?
answers: text: Elekana

question: What missionary was the first European missionary to come to Tuvalu?
answers: text: Rev. A. W. Murray

question: Of what nationality were most of the ministers of the Church of Tuvalu?
answers: text: Samoans
context: Christianity came to Tuvalu in 1861 when Elekana, a deacon of a Congregational church in Manihiki, Cook Islands became caught in a storm and drifted for 8 weeks before landing at Nukulaelae on 10 May 1861. Elekana began proselytising Christianity. He was trained at Malua Theological College, a London Missionary Society (LMS) school in Samoa, before beginning his work in establishing the Church of Tuvalu. In 1865 the Rev. A. W. Murray of the LMS – a Protestant congregationalist missionary society – arrived as the first European missionary where he too proselytised among the inhabitants of Tuvalu. By 1878 Protestantism was well established with preachers on each island. In the later 19th and early 20th centuries the ministers of what became the Church of Tuvalu (Te Ekalesia Kelisiano Tuvalu) were predominantly Samoans, who influenced the development of the Tuvaluan language and the music of Tuvalu.

qas: question: In what century did trading companies arrive in Tuvalu?
answers: text: mid-19th

question: What type of traders did the trading companies employ on Tuvalu?
answers: text: palagi traders

question: Who was the first European to permanently settle on Tuvalu?
answers: text: John (also known as Jack) O'Brien

question: Which native did O'Brien marry?
answers: text: Salai

question: What trader turned author established a post on Tuvalu?
answers: text: Louis Becke
context: Trading companies became active in Tuvalu in the mid-19th century; the trading companies engaged palagi traders who lived on the islands. John (also known as Jack) O'Brien was the first European to settle in Tuvalu, he became a trader on Funafuti in the 1850s. He married Salai, the daughter of the paramount chief of Funafuti. Louis Becke, who later found success as a writer, was a trader on Nanumanga from April 1880 until the trading-station was destroyed later that year in a cyclone. He then became a trader on Nukufetau.

qas: question: What sea captain reported on the Tuvalu trading in 1892?
answers: text: Captain Davis

question: What was the name of Davis's ship?
answers: text: HMS Royalist

question: What did palagi traders act as for the trading companies?
answers: text: agents

question: How many traders did some islands have?
answers: text: competing

question: What type of islands in the Tuvalu group have few traders? 
answers: text: dryer
context: In 1892 Captain Davis of the HMS Royalist reported on trading activities and traders on each of the islands visited. Captain Davis identified the following traders in the Ellice Group: Edmund Duffy (Nanumea); Jack Buckland (Niutao); Harry Nitz (Vaitupu); John (also known as Jack) O'Brien (Funafuti); Alfred Restieaux and Emile Fenisot (Nukufetau); and Martin Kleis (Nui). During this time, the greatest number of palagi traders lived on the atolls, acting as agents for the trading companies. Some islands would have competing traders while dryer islands might only have a single trader.

qas: question: What operational changes caused a decline in the numbers of palagi traders in Tuvalu?
answers: text: structural changes

question: What type of traders did the Pacific trading companies cease to use?
answers: text: resident

question: How did the trading companies begin to trade with islanders?
answers: text: deal directly

question: By what year were there no more palagi traders on Tuvalu?
answers: text: 1909

question: What is the term for a ship's cargo manager?
answers: text: supercargo
context: In the later 1890s and into first decade of the 20th century, structural changes occurred in the operation of the Pacific trading companies; they moved from a practice of having traders resident on each island to instead becoming a business operation where the supercargo (the cargo manager of a trading ship) would deal directly with the islanders when a ship visited an island. From 1900 the numbers of palagi traders in Tuvalu declined and the last of the palagi traders were Fred Whibley on Niutao, Alfred Restieaux on Nukufetau, and Martin Kleis on Nui. By 1909 there were no more resident palagi traders representing the trading companies, although both Whibley and Restieaux remained in the islands until their deaths.

qas: question: What writer visited the Tuvalu Islands in 1890?
answers: text: Robert Louis Stevenson

question: When did Robert Louis Stevenson sail on the ship Janet Nicoll?
answers: text: 1890

question: What type of ship was the Janet Nicoll?
answers: text: trading steamer

question: Who recorded the trip aboard the Janet Nicoll?
answers: text: Fanny Vandegrift Stevenson

question: What was the title of the travel book written by Fanny Vandegrift Stevenson?
answers: text: The Cruise of the Janet Nichol
context: In 1890 Robert Louis Stevenson, his wife Fanny Vandegrift Stevenson and her son Lloyd Osbourne sailed on the Janet Nicoll, a trading steamer owned by Henderson and Macfarlane of Auckland, New Zealand, which operated between Sydney and Auckland and into the central Pacific. The Janet Nicoll visited three of the Ellice Islands; while Fanny records that they made landfall at Funafuti, Niutao and Nanumea, Jane Resture suggests that it was more likely they landed at Nukufetau rather than Funafuti. An account of this voyage was written by Fanny Stevenson and published under the title The Cruise of the Janet Nichol, together with photographs taken by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne.

qas: question: What are the boreholes on Funafuti called?
answers: text: Darwin's Drill

question: What group conducted a study of coral on Funafuti?
answers: text: Royal Society of London

question: What formations was the Royal Society studying?
answers: text: coral reefs

question: Who's basic work in the area of coral reefs did the Royal Society's investigations follow?
answers: text: Charles Darwin

question: What was Darwin's work on coral reefs titled?
answers: text: The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs
context: The boreholes on Funafuti, at the site now called Darwin's Drill, are the result of drilling conducted by the Royal Society of London for the purpose of investigating the formation of coral reefs to determine whether traces of shallow water organisms could be found at depth in the coral of Pacific atolls. This investigation followed the work on The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs conducted by Charles Darwin in the Pacific. Drilling occurred in 1896, 1897 and 1898. Professor Edgeworth David of the University of Sydney was a member of the 1896 "Funafuti Coral Reef Boring Expedition of the Royal Society", under Professor William Sollas and lead the expedition in 1897. Photographers on these trips recorded people, communities, and scenes at Funafuti.

qas: question: What naturalist was on the 1896 expedition to Funafuti?
answers: text: Charles Hedley

question: What type of objects did Hedley collect on Funafuti
answers: text: invertebrate and ethnological
context: Charles Hedley, a naturalist at the Australian Museum, accompanied the 1896 expedition and during his stay on Funafuti collected invertebrate and ethnological objects. The descriptions of these were published in Memoir III of the Australian Museum Sydney between 1896 and 1900. Hedley also wrote the General Account of the Atoll of Funafuti, The Ethnology of Funafuti, and The Mollusca of Funafuti. Edgar Waite was also part of the 1896 expedition and published an account of The mammals, reptiles, and fishes of Funafuti. William Rainbow described the spiders and insects collected at Funafuti in The insect fauna of Funafuti.

qas: question: For what purpose was Funafuti used during the Pacific War? 
answers: text: a base

question: What group occupied the Gilbert Islands?
answers: text: Japanese forces

question: What action delayed the Japanese occupation of the Gilbert Islands?
answers: text: Battle of the Coral Sea

question: From what time span were USN Torpedo Boats stationed at Funafuti?
answers: text: 2 November 1942 to 11 May 1944

question: On what islet did US forces build a seaplane ramp?
answers: text: Fongafale
context: During the Pacific War Funafuti was used as a base to prepare for the subsequent seaborn attacks on the Gilbert Islands (Kiribati) that were occupied by Japanese forces. The United States Marine Corps landed on Funafuti on 2 October 1942 and on Nanumea and Nukufetau in August 1943. The Japanese had already occupied Tarawa and other islands in what is now Kiribati, but were delayed by the losses at the Battle of the Coral Sea. The islanders assisted the American forces to build airfields on Funafuti, Nanumea and Nukufetau and to unload supplies from ships. On Funafuti the islanders shifted to the smaller islets so as to allow the American forces to build the airfield and to build naval bases and port facilities on Fongafale. A Naval Construction Battalion (Seabees) built a sea plane ramp on the lagoon side of Fongafale islet for seaplane operations by both short and long range seaplanes and a compacted coral runway was also constructed on Fongafale, with runways also constructed to create Nanumea Airfield and Nukufetau Airfield. USN Patrol Torpedo Boats (PTs) were based at Funafuti from 2 November 1942 to 11 May 1944.

qas: question: In what year was ministerial government started in the Gilbert and Ellice islands?
answers: text: 1974

question: What document was changed to cause a change in government?
answers: text: Constitution

question: When was a referendum held to determine the government of Ellice?
answers: text: December 1974

question: What was the determination of the referendum?
answers: text: separation

question: What did the Tuvaluan Order 1976 recognize Tuvalu to be?
answers: text: British dependency
context: In 1974 ministerial government was introduced to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony through a change to the Constitution. In that year a general election was held; and a referendum was held in December 1974 to determine whether the Gilbert Islands and Ellice Islands should each have their own administration. As a consequence of the referendum, separation occurred in two stages. The Tuvaluan Order 1975, which took effect on 1 October 1975, recognised Tuvalu as a separate British dependency with its own government. The second stage occurred on 1 January 1976 when separate administrations were created out of the civil service of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony.

qas: question: When did Tuvalu acquire independence?
answers: text: October 1978

question: What was formed in 1974?
answers: text: British colony of Tuvalu

question: After independence, what was the Assembly on Tuvalu  named? 
answers: text: Parliament of Tuvalu

question: What type of parliament does Tuvalu have?
answers: text: unicameral

question: In Tuvalu government, what group elect the Prime Minster?
answers: text: members of parliament
context: From 1974 (the creation of the British colony of Tuvalu) until independence, the legislative body of Tuvalu was called the House of the Assembly or Fale I Fono. Following independence in October 1978 the House of the Assembly was renamed the Parliament of Tuvalu or Palamene o Tuvalu. The unicameral Parliament has 15 members with elections held every four years. The members of parliament select the Prime Minister (who is the head of government) and the Speaker of Parliament. The ministers that form the Cabinet are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister.

qas: question: How many courts are there on Tuvalu?
answers: text: eight

question: What is the name of the superior court of Tuvalu?
answers: text: High Court of Tuvalu

question: What is the High Court's right to determine?
answers: text: Law of Tuvalu

question: What judge is the Chief Justice of the Tuvalu High Court?
answers: text: Sir Gordon Ward

question: To where can judgments be appealed?
answers: text: Court of Appeal of Tuvalu
context: There are eight Island Courts and Lands Courts; appeals in relation to land disputes are made to the Lands Courts Appeal Panel. Appeals from the Island Courts and the Lands Courts Appeal Panel are made to the Magistrates Court, which has jurisdiction to hear civil cases involving up to $T10,000. The superior court is the High Court of Tuvalu as it has unlimited original jurisdiction to determine the Law of Tuvalu and to hear appeals from the lower courts. Sir Gordon Ward is the current Chief Justice of Tuvalu. Rulings of the High Court can be appealed to the Court of Appeal of Tuvalu. From the Court of Appeal there is a right of appeal to Her Majesty in Council, i.e., the Privy Council in London.

qas: question: In what group is Tuvalu involved?
answers: text: Secretariat of the Pacific Community

question: In which forum group is Tuvalu a member?
answers: text: Pacific Islands Forum

question: In which British group is Tuvalu a member?
answers: text: Commonwealth of Nations

question: To what world organization does Tuvalu belong?
answers: text: United Nations

question: On what date did Tuvalu join the Pacific Islands Development Forum?
answers: text: 18 February 2016
context: Tuvalu participates in the work of Secretariat of the Pacific Community, or SPC (sometimes Pacific Community) and is a member of the Pacific Islands Forum, the Commonwealth of Nations and the United Nations. Tuvalu has maintained a mission at the United Nations in New York City since 2000. Tuvalu is a member of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. On 18 February 2016 Tuvalu signed the Pacific Islands Development Forum Charter and formally joined the Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF).

qas: question: What crisis is a major concern for Tuvalu at the UN?
answers: text: global warming

question: In concert with global warming, what is Tuvalu's other envirnmental priority? 
answers: text: sea level rising

question: What agreement does Tuvalu advocate ratification?
answers: text: Kyoto Protocol

question: What did Tuvalu call for from other nations concerning reduction of carbon emissions?
answers: text: binding deals

question: What does Tuvalu feel its position to be in climate change?
answers: text: vulnerable
context: A major international priority for Tuvalu in the UN, at the 2002 Earth Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa and in other international fora, is promoting concern about global warming and the possible sea level rising. Tuvalu advocates ratification and implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. In December 2009 the islands stalled talks on climate change at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, fearing some other developing countries were not committing fully to binding deals on a reduction in carbon emissions. Their chief negotiator stated, "Tuvalu is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change and our future rests on the outcome of this meeting."

qas: question: Of what alliance is Tuvalu a member?
answers: text: Alliance of Small Island States

question: What is the AOSIS'S main concern?
answers: text: climate change

question: To what agreement has Tuvalu committed?
answers: text: Majuro Declaration

question: What type of energy does the Majuro Declaration advocate?
answers: text: 100% renewable

question: By what means does Tuvalu plan to produce 95% of its energy?
answers: text: Solar PV
context: Tuvalu participates in the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), which is a coalition of small island and low-lying coastal countries that have concerns about their vulnerability to the adverse effects of global climate change. Under the Majuro Declaration, which was signed on 5 September 2013, Tuvalu has commitment to implement power generation of 100% renewable energy (between 2013 and 2020), which is proposed to be implemented using Solar PV (95% of demand) and biodiesel (5% of demand). The feasibility of wind power generation will be considered. Tuvalu participates in the operations of the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

qas: question: In what fishery group does Tuvalu participate? 
answers: text: Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency

question: Of what fishery treaty is Tuvalu a signatory?
answers: text: South Pacific Tuna Treaty

question: What is the focus of the Nauru Agreement?
answers: text: tuna purse seine fishing

question: Of what did Tuvalu agree to the extension ?
answers: text: Multilateral Fisheries Treaty

question: What did Tuvalu refuse to sell in 2015?
answers: text: fishing days
context: Tuvalu participates in the operations of the Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). The Tuvaluan government, the US government, and the governments of other Pacific islands, are parties to the South Pacific Tuna Treaty (SPTT), which entered into force in 1988. Tuvalu is also a member of the Nauru Agreement which addresses the management of tuna purse seine fishing in the tropical western Pacific. In May 2013 representatives from the United States and the Pacific Islands countries agreed to sign interim arrangement documents to extend the Multilateral Fisheries Treaty (which encompasses the South Pacific Tuna Treaty) to confirm access to the fisheries in the Western and Central Pacific for US tuna boats for 18 months. Tuvalu and the other members of the Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and the United States have settled a tuna fishing deal for 2015; a longer term deal will be negotiated. The treaty is an extension of the Nauru Agreement and provides for US flagged purse seine vessels to fish 8,300 days in the region in return for a payment of US$90 million made up by tuna fishing industry and US-Government contributions. In 2015 Tuvalu has refused to sell fishing days to certain nations and fleets that have blocked Tuvaluan initiatives to develop and sustain their own fishery.

qas: question: What trade agreement did Tuvalu sign in 2013?
answers: text: Memorandum of Understanding

question: What does the Memorandum concern?
answers: text: Pacific Regional Trade

question: What does the trade agreement encompass?
answers: text: Economic Partnership Agreement

question: With what group does the  agreement form an alliance?
answers: text: European Union

question: To whom does the Facility seek to deliver aid?
answers: text: Pacific island countries
context: In July 2013 Tuvalu signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish the Pacific Regional Trade and Development Facility, which Facility originated in 2006, in the context of negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Pacific ACP States and the European Union. The rationale for the creation of the Facility being to improve the delivery of aid to Pacific island countries in support of the Aid-for-Trade (AfT) requirements. The Pacific ACP States are the countries in the Pacific that are signatories to the Cotonou Agreement with the European Union.

qas: question: What is the Tuvalu high chief on each island called?
answers: text: ulu-aliki

question: What is the name of the sub-chiefs in Tuvalu?
answers: text: alikis

question: What is the Tuvaluan traditional assembly of elders?
answers: text: Falekaupule

question: What was the caste of priests in the past on Tuvalu?
answers: text: tofuga

question: With what group do the falekaupule share power on Tuvalu?
answers: text: pule o kaupule
context: Each island has its own high-chief, or ulu-aliki, and several sub-chiefs (alikis). The community council is the Falekaupule (the traditional assembly of elders) or te sina o fenua (literally: "grey-hairs of the land"). In the past, another caste, the priests (tofuga), were also amongst the decision-makers. The ulu-aliki and aliki exercise informal authority at the local level. Ulu-aliki are always chosen based on ancestry. Under the Falekaupule Act (1997), the powers and functions of the Falekaupule are now shared with the pule o kaupule (elected village presidents; one on each atoll).

qas: question: What was the argument against the deportation of a Tuvaluan family from new Zealand?
answers: text: climate change refugees

question: By what reason was the Tuvaluan family allowed to immigrate?
answers: text: humanitarian nature

question: What court ruled the claim of climate change refugee to be untenable?
answers: text: New Zealand High Court

question: What feature was missing in the climate change claims?
answers: text: persecution or serious harm

question: What document draws out the requirements of refugee status?
answers: text: Refugee Convention
context: In 2014 attention was drawn to an appeal to the New Zealand Immigration and Protection Tribunal against the deportation of a Tuvaluan family on the basis that they were "climate change refugees", who would suffer hardship resulting from the environmental degradation of Tuvalu. However the subsequent grant of residence permits to the family was made on grounds unrelated to the refugee claim. The family was successful in their appeal because, under the relevant immigration legislation, there were "exceptional circumstances of a humanitarian nature" that justified the grant of resident permits as the family was integrated into New Zealand society with a sizeable extended family which had effectively relocated to New Zealand. Indeed, in 2013 a claim of a Kiribati man of being a "climate change refugee" under the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) was determined by the New Zealand High Court to be untenable as there was no persecution or serious harm related to any of the five stipulated Refugee Convention grounds. Permanent migration to Australia and New Zealand, such as for family reunification, requires compliance with the immigration legislation of those countries.

qas: question: What is New Zealand's annual quota of Tuvaluan granted work permits?
answers: text: 75

question: What must a Tuvaluan have to be considered for a work permit in New Zealand?
answers: text: job offer

question: How many Pacific islander seasonal workers are permitted?
answers: text: 5,000

question: What is the program that allows season employees work permits?
answers: text: Australian Pacific Seasonal Worker Program

question: What program was introduced in 2007 for season workers in New Zealand?
answers: text: Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Work Policy
context: New Zealand has an annual quota of 75 Tuvaluans granted work permits under the Pacific Access Category, as announced in 2001. The applicants register for the Pacific Access Category (PAC) ballots; the primary criteria is that the principal applicant must have a job offer from a New Zealand employer. Tuvaluans also have access to seasonal employment in the horticulture and viticulture industries in New Zealand under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Work Policy introduced in 2007 allowing for employment of up to 5,000 workers from Tuvalu and other Pacific islands. Tuvaluans can participate in the Australian Pacific Seasonal Worker Program, which allows Pacific Islanders to obtain seasonal employment in the Australian agriculture industry, in particular cotton and cane operations; fishing industry, in particular aquaculture; and with accommodation providers in the tourism industry.

qas: question: Besides English, what is the national language of Tuvalu?
answers: text: Tuvaluan

question: What is the language group of the Tuvaluan language?
answers: text: Ellicean group

question: What other languages is the Tuvaluan language related?
answers: text: Polynesian

question: To what area's language is Tuvaluan closely related?
answers: text: Micronesia

question: From what language does Tuvaluan borrow many linguistic traits?
answers: text: Samoan
context: The Tuvaluan language and English are the national languages of Tuvalu. Tuvaluan is of the Ellicean group of Polynesian languages, distantly related to all other Polynesian languages such as Hawaiian, Māori, Tahitian, Samoan and Tongan. It is most closely related to the languages spoken on the Polynesian outliers in Micronesia and northern and central Melanesia. The language has borrowed from the Samoan language, as a consequence of Christian missionaries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries being predominantly Samoan.

qas: question: What is the only hospital in Tuvalu?
answers: text: Princess Margaret Hospital

question: On which island in Tuvalu is the hospital?
answers: text: Funafuti

question: How many nurses does Princess Margaret have on staff?
answers: text: 13

question: What kind of nursing services do outer islands nurses provide?
answers: text: midwifery

question: How many nurses are provided to the outer islands?
answers: text: nine or ten
context: The Princess Margaret Hospital on Funafuti is the only hospital in Tuvalu. The Tuvaluan medical staff at PMH in 2011 comprised the Director of Health & Surgeon, the Chief Medical Officer Public Health, an anaesthetist, a paediatric medical officer and an obstetrics and gynaecology medical officer. Allied health staff include two radiographers, two pharmacists, three laboratory technicians, two dieticians and 13 nurses with specialised training in fields including surgical nursing, anaesthesia nursing/ICU, paediatric nursing and midwifery. PMH also employs a dentist. The Department of Health also employs nine or ten nurses on the outer islands to provide general nursing and midwifery services.

qas: question: What group funds the Augmented Foundation Programme?
answers: text: government of Tuvalu

question: Where is the Augmented Programme required for further education?
answers: text: outside of Tuvalu

question: In what educational institution is the program found?
answers: text: University of the South Pacific

question: Where is the Extension Centre for the USP?
answers: text: Funafuti

question: Which students go into the Augmented Foundation Programme?
answers: text: Sixth form
context: Fetuvalu offers the Cambridge syllabus. Motufoua offers the Fiji Junior Certificate (FJC) at year 10, Tuvaluan Certificate at Year 11 and the Pacific Senior Secondary Certificate (PSSC) at Year 12, set by the Fiji-based exam board SPBEA. Sixth form students who pass their PSSC go on to the Augmented Foundation Programme, funded by the government of Tuvalu. This program is required for tertiary education programmes outside of Tuvalu and is available at the University of the South Pacific (USP) Extension Centre in Funafuti.

qas: question: What is the required education for males on Tuvalu?
answers: text: 10 years

question: How long are females required to go to school?
answers: text: 11 years

question: What was the literacy rate on Tuvalu in 2002?
answers: text: 99.0%

question: How many students were in Tuvalu schools in 2010?
answers: text: 1,918

question: What si the teacher-student ratio for Tuvalu schools?
answers: text: 1:18
context: Required attendance at school is 10 years for males and 11 years for females (2001). The adult literacy rate is 99.0% (2002). In 2010, there were 1,918 students who were taught by 109 teachers (98 certified and 11 uncertified). The teacher-pupil ratio for primary schools in Tuvalu is around 1:18 for all schools with the exception of Nauti School, which has a teacher-student ratio of 1:27. Nauti School on Funafuti is the largest primary in Tuvalu with more than 900 students (45 percent of the total primary school enrolment). The pupil-teacher ratio for Tuvalu is low compared to the Pacific region (ratio of 1:29).

qas: question: What type of school has Tuvalu set up on each atoll?
answers: text: Community Training Centres

question: What from of education do Community Training Centres provide?
answers: text: vocational training

question: For what have CTC students failed to qualify ?
answers: text: secondary education

question: Besides children, who can Take CTC  classes?
answers: text: Adults

question: What kind of training classes are offered at CTC?
answers: text: basic
context: Community Training Centres (CTCs) have been established within the primary schools on each atoll. The CTCs provide vocational training to students who do not progress beyond Class 8 because they failed the entry qualifications for secondary education. The CTCs offer training in basic carpentry, gardening and farming, sewing and cooking. At the end of their studies the graduates can apply to continue studies either at Motufoua Secondary School or the Tuvalu Maritime Training Institute (TMTI). Adults can also attend courses at the CTCs.

qas: question: What were the traditional building materials on Tuvalu?
answers: text: plants and trees

question: What type of trees provided lumber for building on Tuvalu?
answers: text: broadleaf forest

question: What building material did coconut provide?
answers: text: fibre

question: What construction feature was lacking in Tuvaluan building?
answers: text: nails

question: From what was rope made for tying buildings together?
answers: text: dried coconut fibre
context: The traditional buildings of Tuvalu used plants and trees from the native broadleaf forest, including timber from: Pouka, (Hernandia peltata); Ngia or Ingia bush, (Pemphis acidula); Miro, (Thespesia populnea); Tonga, (Rhizophora mucronata); Fau or Fo fafini, or woman's fibre tree (Hibiscus tiliaceus). and fibre from: coconut; Ferra, native fig (Ficus aspem); Fala, screw pine or Pandanus. The buildings were constructed without nails and were lashed and tied together with a plaited sennit rope that was handmade from dried coconut fibre.

qas: question: What sea creatures were used in traditional handicrafts?
answers: text: shells

question: In what item has Tuvalu traditional design been produced?
answers: text: clothing

question: What type of decorative items use traditional Tuvalu designs?
answers: text: mats and fans

question: For what  have objects having traditional design been used?
answers: text: everyday life

question: What traditional purpose are Tuvalu designs still used?
answers: text: dance songs
context: The women of Tuvalu use cowrie and other shells in traditional handicrafts. The artistic traditions of Tuvalu have traditionally been expressed in the design of clothing and traditional handicrafts such as the decoration of mats and fans. Crochet (kolose) is one of the art forms practiced by Tuvaluan women. The material culture of Tuvalu uses traditional design elements in artefacts used in everyday life such as the design of canoes and fish hooks made from traditional materials. The design of women's skirts (titi), tops (teuga saka), headbands, armbands, and wristbands, which continue to be used in performances of the traditional dance songs of Tuvalu, represents contemporary Tuvaluan art and design.

qas: question: What is the stable protein  of Tuvalu?
answers: text: fish

question: What vegetable features in the Tuvalu diet?
answers: text: coconut

question: What kind of milk has been replaced with coconut milk on Tuvalu?
answers: text: animal

question: What type of meat is eaten on Tuvalu?
answers: text: seabirds

question: At what event is pork traditionally eaten on Tuvalu?
answers: text: fateles
context: The cuisine of Tuvalu is based on the staple of coconut and the many species of fish found in the ocean and lagoons of the atolls. Desserts made on the islands include coconut and coconut milk, instead of animal milk. The traditional foods eaten in Tuvalu are pulaka, taro, bananas, breadfruit and coconut. Tuvaluans also eat seafood, including coconut crab and fish from the lagoon and ocean. A traditional food source is seabirds (taketake or black noddy and akiaki or white tern), with pork being eaten mostly at fateles (or parties with dancing to celebrate events).

qas: question: What type of structure is the falekaupule?
answers: text: meeting hall

question: Besides meetings, for what other use is the meeting hall used?
answers: text: celebrations

question: Aside from being defined as a meeting hall, what other definition does falekaupule have? 
answers: text: council of elders

question: What is the traditional use of the falekaupule?
answers: text: decision making body

question: What is the traditional customs and culture on Tuvalu?
answers: text: Aganu
context: Another important building is the falekaupule or maneapa the traditional island meeting hall, where important matters are discussed and which is also used for wedding celebrations and community activities such as a fatele involving music, singing and dancing. Falekaupule is also used as the name of the council of elders – the traditional decision making body on each island. Under the Falekaupule Act, Falekaupule means "traditional assembly in each island...composed in accordance with the Aganu of each island". Aganu means traditional customs and culture.

qas: question: What is the traditional sport on Tuvalu?
answers: text: kilikiti

question: To what sport is kilikiti like?
answers: text: cricket

question: What is the Tuvalu version of volley ball?
answers: text: Ano

question: What group disliked the traditional war-like sports of Tuvalu?
answers: text: Christian missionaries

question: With what equipment is ano played?
answers: text: two hard balls
context: A traditional sport played in Tuvalu is kilikiti, which is similar to cricket. A popular sport specific to Tuvalu is Ano, which is played with two round balls of 12 cm (5 in) diameter. Ano is a localised version of volleyball, in which the two hard balls made from pandanus leaves are volleyed at great speed with the team members trying to stop the Ano hitting the ground. Traditional sports in the late 19th century were foot racing, lance throwing, quarterstaff fencing and wrestling, although the Christian missionaries disapproved of these activities.

qas: question: What athlete won Tuvalu's first gold metal in competition? 
answers: text: Tuau Lapua Lapua

question: In which competition did Lapua win a metal for Tuvalu?
answers: text: Pacific Mini Games

question: In what contests did Lapua win  metals for Tuvalu?
answers: text: weightlifting

question: Who won a gold metal at the Pacific Games?
answers: text: Telupe Iosefa

question: In what type of competition did Telupe losefa win in 2015?
answers: text: powerlifting
context: The popular sports in Tuvalu include kilikiti, Ano, football, futsal, volleyball, handball, basketball and rugby union. Tuvalu has sports organisations for athletics, badminton, tennis, table tennis, volleyball, football, basketball, rugby union, weightlifting and powerlifting. At the 2013 Pacific Mini Games, Tuau Lapua Lapua won Tuvalu's first gold medal in an international competition in the weightlifting 62 kilogram male snatch. (He also won bronze in the clean and jerk, and obtained the silver medal overall for the combined event.) In 2015 Telupe Iosefa received the first gold medal won by Tuvalu at the Pacific Games in the powerlifting 120 kg male division.

qas: question: What is a major annual sports event in Tuvalu?
answers: text: Independence Day Sports Festival

question: What is the most important sports event held on Tuvalu?
answers: text: Tuvalu Games

question: In what year did Tuvalu first appear in the Commonwealth Games?
answers: text: 1998

question: What type of competitor entered the commonwealth Games in 1998?
answers: text: weightlifter

question: What competitions have Tuvalu athletes entered in the World Championships in Athletics?
answers: text: 100 metre sprints
context: A major sporting event is the "Independence Day Sports Festival" held annually on 1 October. The most important sports event within the country is arguably the Tuvalu Games, which are held yearly since 2008. Tuvalu first participated in the Pacific Games in 1978 and in the Commonwealth Games in 1998, when a weightlifter attended the games held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Two table tennis players attended the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England; Tuvalu entered competitors in shooting, table tennis and weightlifting at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia; three athletes participated in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, entering the discus, shot put and weightlifting events; and a team of 3 weightlifters and 2 table tennis players attended the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Tuvaluan athletes have also participated in the men's and women's 100 metre sprints at the World Championships in Athletics from 2009.

qas: question: What was Tuvalu's GDP rate from 1996 to 2002?
answers: text: 5.6%

question:  What has been the GDP of Tuvalu in 2008?
answers: text: 1.5%

question: What rises in cost have effected Tuvalu's domestic growth?
answers: text: fuel and food

question: What has been the level of domestic growth in 2010 on Tuvalu?
answers: text: zero growth

question: What does Tuvalu expect as a return in fishing licenses and foreign aid?
answers: text: large revenues
context: From 1996 to 2002, Tuvalu was one of the best-performing Pacific Island economies and achieved an average real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 5.6% per annum. Since 2002 economic growth has slowed, with GDP growth of 1.5% in 2008. Tuvalu was exposed to rapid rises in world prices of fuel and food in 2008, with the level of inflation peaking at 13.4%. The International Monetary Fund 2010 Report on Tuvalu estimates that Tuvalu experienced zero growth in its 2010 GDP, after the economy contracted by about 2% in 2009. On 5 August 2012, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with Tuvalu, and assessed the economy of Tuvalu: "A slow recovery is underway in Tuvalu, but there are important risks. GDP grew in 2011 for the first time since the global financial crisis, led by the private retail sector and education spending. We expect growth to rise slowly". The IMF 2014 Country Report noted that real GDP growth in Tuvalu had been volatile averaging only 1 percent in the past decade. The 2014 Country Report describes economic growth prospects as generally positive as the result of large revenues from fishing licenses, together with substantial foreign aid.

qas: question: What business provides banking services on Tuvalu?
answers: text: National Bank of Tuvalu

question: What percentage of the Tuvalu workforce is in the public sector?
answers: text: 65%

question: Where are many of those who provide income to residents earning?
answers: text: overseas

question: How do 15% of male Tuvaluans earn their income?
answers: text: seamen

question: What are the traditional forms of living employed by Tuvaluans?
answers: text: agriculture and fishing.
context: Banking services are provided by the National Bank of Tuvalu. Public sector workers make up about 65% of those formally employed. Remittances from Tuvaluans living in Australia and New Zealand, and remittances from Tuvaluan sailors employed on overseas ships are important sources of income for Tuvaluans. Approximately 15% of adult males work as seamen on foreign-flagged merchant ships. Agriculture in Tuvalu is focused on coconut trees and growing pulaka in large pits of composted soil below the water table. Tuvaluans are otherwise involved in traditional subsistence agriculture and fishing.

qas: question: What school provides maritime education on Tuvalu?
answers: text: Tuvalu Maritime Training Institute

question: What is the yearly number of cadets at the Maritime Training Institute?
answers: text: 120

question: What is the only trade union on Tuvalu?
answers: text: Tuvalu Overseas Seamen's Union

question: On what does the Seaman'd Union represent workers?
answers: text: on foreign ships

question: How many Tuvaluan men are active seafarers?
answers: text: 800
context: Tuvaluans are well known for their seafaring skills, with the Tuvalu Maritime Training Institute on Amatuku motu (island), Funafuti, providing training to approximately 120 marine cadets each year so that they have the skills necessary for employment as seafarers on merchant shipping. The Tuvalu Overseas Seamen's Union (TOSU) is the only registered trade union in Tuvalu. It represents workers on foreign ships. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates that 800 Tuvaluan men are trained, certified and active as seafarers. The ADB estimates that, at any one time, about 15% of the adult male population works abroad as seafarers. Job opportunities also exist as observers on tuna boats where the role is to monitor compliance with the boat's tuna fishing licence.

qas: question: How much money does Tuvalu's tv domain name earn each year?
answers: text: $2.2 million

question: What si Tuvalu's tv domain?
answers: text: Top Level Domain

question: What company is managing Tuvalu's tv domain?
answers: text: Verisign

question: How much of the total government revenue comes from the domain name?
answers: text: ten per cent

question: What  income source does Tuvalu earn from shipping?
answers: text: Tuvalu Ship Registry
context: Government revenues largely come from sales of fishing licenses, income from the Tuvalu Trust Fund, and from the lease of its highly fortuitous .tv Internet Top Level Domain (TLD). In 1998, Tuvalu began deriving revenue from the use of its area code for premium-rate telephone numbers and from the commercialisation of its ".tv" Internet domain name, which is now managed by Verisign until 2021. The ".tv" domain name generates around $2.2 million each year from royalties, which is about ten per cent of the government's total revenue. Domain name income paid most of the cost of paving the streets of Funafuti and installing street lighting in mid-2002. Tuvalu also generates income from stamps by the Tuvalu Philatelic Bureau and income from the Tuvalu Ship Registry.

qas: question: What is the UN developmental designation for Tuvalu?
answers: text: least developed

question: What organization sponsors an assistance program for least developed countries?
answers: text: World Trade Organisation

question: What did Tuvalu do in 2013 in regards to it least developed country status?
answers: text: deferred its graduation

question: What would Tuvalu have lost as a developed country?
answers: text: funding assistance

question: What type of problem does the current developed country rating not take into enough consideration?
answers: text: environmental
context: The United Nations designates Tuvalu as a least developed country (LDC) because of its limited potential for economic development, absence of exploitable resources and its small size and vulnerability to external economic and environmental shocks. Tuvalu participates in the Enhanced Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance to Least Developed Countries (EIF), which was established in October 1997 under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation. In 2013 Tuvalu deferred its graduation from least developed country (LDC) status to a developing country to 2015. Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga said that this deferral was necessary to maintain access by Tuvalu to the funds provided by the United Nations's National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA), as "Once Tuvalu graduates to a developed country, it will not be considered for funding assistance for climate change adaptation programmes like NAPA, which only goes to LDCs". Tuvalu had met targets so that Tuvalu was to graduate from LDC status. Prime minister, Enele Sopoaga wants the United Nations to reconsider its criteria for graduation from LDC status as not enough weight is given to the environmental plight of small island states like Tuvalu in the application of the Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI).

qas: question: What is the radio station on Tuvalu?
answers: text: Radio Tuvalu

question: From where does Radio Tuvalu broadcast?
answers: text: Funafuti

question: Who gave financial support to Tuvalu to upgrade transmission equipment?
answers: text: Japanese government

question: What did the new radio equipment replace with AM service? 
answers: text: FM radio

question: What service got more bandwidth from the transmission upgrade?
answers: text: mobile
context: The Tuvalu Media Department of the Government of Tuvalu operates Radio Tuvalu which broadcasts from Funafuti. In 2011 the Japanese government provided financial support to construct a new AM broadcast studio. The installation of upgraded transmission equipment allows Radio Tuvalu to be heard on all nine islands of Tuvalu. The new AM radio transmitter on Funafuti replaced the FM radio service to the outer islands and freed up satellite bandwidth for mobile services. Fenui – news from Tuvalu is a free digital publication of the Tuvalu Media Department that is emailed to subscribers and operates a Facebook page, which publishes news about government activities and news about Tuvaluan events, such as a special edition covering the results of the 2015 general election.

qas: question: Where is Tuvalu's only port?
answers: text: Funafuti

question: Where is there a deep water berth available on Tuvalu?
answers: text: Nukufetau

question: Of how many ships does the merchant marine fleet consist?
answers: text: two

question: What ship did Japan donate to Tuvalu in 2015?
answers: text: Nivaga III

question: What do Tuvalu's merchant fleet carry?
answers: text: cargo and passengers
context: Funafuti is the only port but there is a deep-water berth in the harbour at Nukufetau. The merchant marine fleet consists of two passenger/cargo ships Nivaga III and Manu Folau. These ships carry cargo and passengers between the main atolls and travel between Suva, Fiji and Funafuti 3 to 4 times a year. The Nivaga III and Manu Folau provide round trip visits to the outer islands every three or four weeks. The Manu Folau is a 50-metre vessel that was a gift from Japan to the people of Tuvalu. In 2015 the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) assisted the government of Tuvalu to acquire MV Talamoana, a 30-metre vessel that will be used to implement Tuvalu's National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) to transport government officials and project personnel to the outer islands. In 2015 the Nivaga III was donated by the government of Japan; it replaced the Nivaga II, which had serviced Tuvalu from 1989.

qas: question: How many reef islands does the Tuvalu group have?
answers: text: three

question: What are the number of true atolls are in the Tuvalu islands?
answers: text: six

question: What is the total land area of Tuvalu?
answers: text: 26 square kilometres

question: How does Tuvalu rank in country size as compared to other nations?
answers: text: fourth smallest

question: What is the coverage of Tuvalu's economic zone?
answers: text: 900,000 km2
context: Tuvalu consists of three reef islands and six true atolls. Its small, scattered group of atolls have poor soil and a total land area of only about 26 square kilometres (10 square miles) making it the fourth smallest country in the world. The islets that form the atolls are very low lying. Nanumanga, Niutao, Niulakita are reef islands and the six true atolls are Funafuti, Nanumea, Nui, Nukufetau, Nukulaelae and Vaitupu. Tuvalu's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers an oceanic area of approximately 900,000 km2.

qas: question: Which of Tuvalu's atolls is largest?
answers: text: Funafuti

question: What type of island grouping is Tuvalu?
answers: text: volcanic island chain

question: What are the map coordinates fro Tuvalu?
answers: text: 179°7'E and 8°30'S

question: How species of creatures inhabit the Tuvalu lagoon?
answers: text: 607

question: How many new species were were found in the Tuvalu area that had not been previously recorded?
answers: text: 66
context: Funafuti is the largest atoll of the nine low reef islands and atolls that form the Tuvalu volcanic island chain. It comprises numerous islets around a central lagoon that is approximately 25.1 kilometres (15.6 miles) (N–S) by 18.4 kilometres (11.4 miles) (W-E), centred on 179°7'E and 8°30'S. On the atolls, an annular reef rim surrounds the lagoon with several natural reef channels. Surveys were carried out in May 2010 of the reef habitats of Nanumea, Nukulaelae and Funafuti and a total of 317 fish species were recorded during this Tuvalu Marine Life study. The surveys identified 66 species that had not previously been recorded in Tuvalu, which brings the total number of identified species to 607.

qas: question: What specific ocean temperature conditions effect Tuvalu?
answers: text: El Niño and La Niña

question: Which effect causes increases in sea storms like cyclones?
answers: text: El Niño

question: What temperature effect causes drought?
answers: text: La Niña

question: What is the usual amount of rainfall per month on Tuvalu?
answers: text: 200 to 400 mm

question: What did a drought in 2011 cause on Funafuti?
answers: text: rationing of fresh-water
context: Tuvalu experiences the effects of El Niño and La Niña caused by changes in ocean temperatures in the equatorial and central Pacific. El Niño effects increase the chances of tropical storms and cyclones, while La Niña effects increase the chances of drought. Typically the islands of Tuvalu receive between 200 to 400 mm (8 to 16 in) of rainfall per month. However, in 2011 a weak La Niña effect caused a drought by cooling the surface of the sea around Tuvalu. A state of emergency was declared on 28 September 2011; with rationing of fresh-water on the islands of Funafuti and Nukulaelae. Households on Funafuti and Nukulaelae were restricted to two buckets of fresh water per day (40 litres).

qas: question: What type of device did Australia and New Zealand offer to Tuvalu during the 2011 drought?
answers: text: desalination plants

question: As aprt of what program did Japan fund a new desalination plant at Tuvalu?
answers: text: Pacific Environment Community

question: What did aid from the European Union provide during the drought on Tuvalu?
answers: text: water tanks

question: What did Tuvalu's new water tanks make possible to store?
answers: text: fresh water

question: In what year had Japan previously donated a desalination plant to Tuvalu?
answers: text: 2006
context: The governments of Australia and New Zealand responded to the 2011 fresh-water crisis by supplying temporary desalination plants, and assisted in the repair of the existing desalination unit that was donated by Japan in 2006. In response to the 2011 drought, Japan funded the purchase of a 100 m3/d desalination plant and two portable 10 m3/d plants as part of its Pacific Environment Community (PEC) program. Aid programs from the European Union and Australia also provided water tanks as part of the longer term solution for the storage of available fresh water.

qas: question: What is the modern name for the air field built during WWII?
answers: text: Funafuti International Airport

question: What was damaged by building of the war time air field?
answers: text: Funafuti Lagoon

question: What has the pits from the Tuvalu air runways construction  impacted?
answers: text: fresh-water aquifer

question: What government funded the restoration of the borrow pits on Tuvalu?
answers: text: New Zealand Government

question: How much increase in land space did the filling of the borrow pits cause?
answers: text: eight per cent
context: The eastern shoreline of Funafuti Lagoon was modified during World War II when the airfield (what is now Funafuti International Airport) was constructed. The coral base of the atoll was used as fill to create the runway. The resulting borrow pits impacted the fresh-water aquifer. In the low areas of Funafuti the sea water can be seen bubbling up through the porous coral rock to form pools with each high tide. Since 1994 a project has been in development to assess the environmental impact of transporting sand from the lagoon to fill all the borrow pits and low-lying areas on Fongafale. In 2014 the Tuvalu Borrow Pits Remediation (BPR) project was approved in order to fill 10 borrow pits, leaving Tafua Pond, which is a natural pond. The New Zealand Government funded the BPR project. The project was carried out in 2015 with 365,000 sqm of sand being dredged from the lagoon to fill the holes and improve living conditions on the island. This project increase the usable land space on Fongafale by eight per cent.

qas: question: What percentage of the Tuvalu coral has become bleached?
answers: text: 80 per cent

question: What increase caused by the El Ninos is responsible for the coral bleaching?
answers: text: water temperature

question: What type of project has been started to rebuild the reefs at Tuvalu?
answers: text: reef restoration

question: What has been investigated as a means of rebuilding the reefs at Tuvalu?
answers: text: foraminifera

question: What is hoped will strengthen the Tuvalu coast against sea level rise?
answers: text: ecosystem rehabilitation
context: The reefs at Funafuti have suffered damage, with 80 per cent of the coral becoming bleached as a consequence of the increase in ocean temperatures and ocean acidification. The coral bleaching, which includes staghorn corals, is attributed to the increase in water temperature that occurred during the El Niños that occurred from 1998–2000 and from 2000–2001. A reef restoration project has investigated reef restoration techniques; and researchers from Japan have investigated rebuilding the coral reefs through the introduction of foraminifera. The project of the Japan International Cooperation Agency is designed to increase the resilience of the Tuvalu coast against sea level rise through ecosystem rehabilitation and regeneration and through support for sand production.

qas: question: What has been formed to protect the fish stocks in Tuvalu Lagoon?
answers: text: Funafuti Conservation Area

question: What factor has caused an increased demand for fish?
answers: text: rising population

question: What has growth in population and poor sanitation caused?
answers: text: pollution

question: What organization has funded a waste management control plan on Tuvalu?
answers: text: European Union

question: What do imports produce on Tuvalu?
answers: text: plastic waste
context: The rising population has resulted in an increased demand on fish stocks, which are under stress; although the creation of the Funafuti Conservation Area has provided a fishing exclusion area to help sustain the fish population across the Funafuti lagoon. Population pressure on the resources of Funafuti and inadequate sanitation systems have resulted in pollution. The Waste Operations and Services Act of 2009 provides the legal framework for waste management and pollution control projects funded by the European Union directed at organic waste composting in eco-sanitation systems. The Environment Protection (Litter and Waste Control) Regulation 2013 is intended to improve the management of the importation of non-biodegradable materials. In Tuvalu plastic waste is a problem as much imported food and other commodities are supplied in plastic containers or packaging.

qas: question: What type of desalination is used on Funafuti?
answers: text: Reverse osmosis

question: How much water does the Funafuti plant produce?
answers: text: 40 m3 per day

question: At what storage  point is R/O water production meant to be used?
answers: text: below 30%

question: What is the cost of R/O produced water?
answers: text: A$3.50 per m3

question: What organization subsidizes the cost of water desalination?
answers: text: government
context: Reverse osmosis (R/O) desalination units supplement rainwater harvesting on Funafuti. The 65 m3 desalination plant operates at a real production level of around 40 m3 per day. R/O water is only intended to be produced when storage falls below 30%, however demand to replenish household storage supplies with tanker-delivered water means that the R/O desalination units are continually operating. Water is delivered at a cost of A$3.50 per m3. Cost of production and delivery has been estimated at A$6 per m3, with the difference subsidised by the government.

qas: question: When did the UN ask Tuvalu to come up with a plan to improve drinking water?
answers: text: July 2012

question: What did Tuvalu develop as a safe water strategy?
answers: text: National Water Resources Policy

question: What is the per person per day targeted use of water for Tuvalu?
answers: text: 50 and 100L

question: What organization called for Tuvalu to  improve its water and sanitation systems?
answers: text: United Nations

question: What group ultimately sponsored the Tuvalu water resources policy?
answers: text: Global Environment Fund
context: In July 2012 a United Nations Special Rapporteur called on the Tuvalu Government to develop a national water strategy to improve access to safe drinking water and sanitation. In 2012, Tuvalu developed a National Water Resources Policy under the Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) Project and the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC) Project, which are sponsored by the Global Environment Fund/SOPAC. Government water planning has established a target of between 50 and 100L of water per person per day accounting for drinking water, cleaning, community and cultural activities.

qas: question: What geological situation makes Tuvalu prone to storm damage?
answers: text: low elevation

question: To what climate change condition does Tuvalu's low elevation make it susceptible?
answers: text: sea level rise

question: What is the highest elevation on Tuvalu?
answers: text: 4.6 metres

question: Where on Tuvalu is the highest elevation?
answers: text: Niulakita

question: Where does Tuvalu rank among other countries as to lowest elevation?
answers: text: second-lowest
context: Because of the low elevation, the islands that make up this nation are vulnerable to the effects of tropical cyclones and by the threat of current and future sea level rise. The highest elevation is 4.6 metres (15 ft) above sea level on Niulakita, which gives Tuvalu the second-lowest maximum elevation of any country (after the Maldives). The highest elevations are typically in narrow storm dunes on the ocean side of the islands which are prone to overtopping in tropical cyclones, as occurred with Cyclone Bebe, which was a very early-season storm that passed through the Tuvaluan atolls in October 1972. Cyclone Bebe submerged Funafuti, eliminating 90% of structures on the island. Sources of drinking water were contaminated as a result of the system's storm surge and the flooding of the sources of fresh water.

qas: question: What cyclone badly damaged Funafuti?
answers: text: Cyclone Bebe

question: What islet was damaged by Cyclone Meli in 1979?
answers: text: Funafuti's Tepuka Vili Vili

question: How many cyclones effected Tuvalu during the 1996-97  cyclone season? 
answers: text: three

question: What cyclone caused major damage to vegetation on all islands on Tuvalu?
answers: text: Cyclone Ofa

question: What was the first cyclone to strike Tuvalu during the 1996-97 season?
answers: text: Cyclone Gavin
context: Cyclone Bebe in 1972 caused severe damage to Funafuti. Funafuti's Tepuka Vili Vili islet was devastated by Cyclone Meli in 1979, with all its vegetation and most of its sand swept away during the cyclone. Along with a tropical depression that affected the islands a few days later, Severe Tropical Cyclone Ofa had a major impact on Tuvalu with most islands reporting damage to vegetation and crops. Cyclone Gavin was first identified during 2 March 1997, and was the first of three tropical cyclones to affect Tuvalu during the 1996–97 cyclone season with Cyclones Hina and Keli following later in the season.

qas: question: What were the wave heights during Cyclone Pam on Tuvalu?
answers: text: 3 metres (9.8 ft) to 5 metres (16 ft)

question: In what year did Cyclone Pam strike Tuvalu?
answers: text: March 2015

question: During Cyclone Pam which island had the most damage?
answers: text: Nui

question: What percentage of Tuvalu crops were destroyed during  Cyclone Pam?
answers: text: 90%

question: The loss of what caused the Vasafua islet to become  a sand bar due to Cyclone Pam?
answers: text: coconut palms
context: In March 2015, the winds and storm surge created by Cyclone Pam resulted in waves of 3 metres (9.8 ft) to 5 metres (16 ft) breaking over the reef of the outer islands caused damage to houses, crops and infrastructure. On Nui the sources of fresh water were destroyed or contaminated. The flooding in Nui and Nukufetau caused many families to shelter in evacuation centres or with other families. Nui suffered the most damage of the three central islands (Nui, Nukufetau and Vaitupu); with both Nui and Nukufetau suffering the loss of 90% of the crops. Of the three northern islands (Nanumanga, Niutao, Nanumea), Nanumanga suffered the most damage, with 60-100 houses flooded, with the waves also causing damage to the health facility. Vasafua islet, part of the Funafuti Conservation Area, was severely damaged by Cyclone Pam. The coconut palms were washed away, leaving the islet as a sand bar.

qas: question: What did the Tuvalu government assess after Cyclone Pam?
answers: text: damage

question: What event on Tuvalu made assistance to the population necessary?
answers: text: Cyclone Pam

question: What assistance did many international groups give to Tuvalu?
answers: text: recovery

question: For what action was government assistance necessary after the Tuvalu cyclone??
answers: text: cleaning-up
context: The Tuvalu Government carried out assessments of the damage caused by Cyclone Pam to the islands and has provided medical aid, food as well as assistance for the cleaning-up of storm debris. Government and Non-Government Organisations provided assistance technical, funding and material support to Tuvalu to assist with recovery, including WHO, UNICEF, UNDP, OCHA, World Bank, DFAT, New Zealand Red Cross & IFRC, Fiji National University and governments of New Zealand, Netherlands, UAE, Taiwan and the United States.

qas: question: What subject is arguable concerning Tuvalu?
answers: text: sea level

question: What was the amount of sea level change on Tuvalu estimated by the 2011 report?
answers: text: 5 mm

question: What device was used to produce the measurements of sea level change on Tuvalu?
answers: text: satellite

question: Prior to what year were the reports used to assess sea level rise?
answers: text: pre-1993

question: What is assumed about the sea level reports and records of Tuvalu?
answers: text: degree of uncertainty
context: Whether there are measurable changes in the sea level relative to the islands of Tuvalu is a contentious issue. There were problems associated with the pre-1993 sea level records from Funafuti which resulted in improvements in the recording technology to provide more reliable data for analysis. The degree of uncertainty as to estimates of sea level change relative to the islands of Tuvalu was reflected in the conclusions made in 2002 from the available data. The 2011 report of the Pacific Climate Change Science Program published by the Australian Government, concludes: "The sea-level rise near Tuvalu measured by satellite altimeters since 1993 is about 5 mm (0.2 in) per year."

qas: question: What have the Tuvalu atolls displayed about sea level rise?
answers: text: resilience

question: What does gradual sea level rise allow for coral to increase?
answers: text: reefs

question: What sea level rise rate could cause more uncertainty to the welfare of coral reefs? 
answers: text: faster rate

question: What condition besides sea level rise can damage coral reefs?
answers: text: ocean acidification

question: Where does sand and coral debris end up because of the action of cyclones?
answers: text: on the islands
context: The atolls have shown resilience to gradual sea-level rise, with atolls and reef islands being able to grow under current climate conditions by generating sufficient sand and coral debris that accumulates and gets dumped on the islands during cyclones. Gradual sea-level rise also allows for coral polyp activity to increase the reefs. However, if the increase in sea level occurs at faster rate as compared to coral growth, or if polyp activity is damaged by ocean acidification, then the resilience of the atolls and reef islands is less certain. The 2011 report of Pacific Climate Change Science Program of Australia concludes, in relation to Tuvalu, states the conclusions that over the course of the 21st century:

qas: question: What do some people want to do with the people of Tuvalu?
answers: text: relocation

question: What did the Tuvalu Prime Minster say was not enough of an immediate threat to cause evacuation of the population? 
answers: text: rising sea levels

question: When did Prime Minster Maatia Toafa make his comments about not evacuating Tuvalu? 
answers: text: 2006

question: What did Enele Sopoaga think evacuation of the people should be?
answers: text: never be an option
context: While some commentators have called for the relocation of Tuvalu's population to Australia, New Zealand or Kioa in Fiji, in 2006 Maatia Toafa (Prime Minister from 2004–2006) said his government did not regard rising sea levels as such a threat that the entire population would need to be evacuated. In 2013 Enele Sopoaga, the prime minister of Tuvalu, said that relocating Tuvaluans to avoid the impact of sea level rise "should never be an option because it is self defeating in itself. For Tuvalu I think we really need to mobilise public opinion in the Pacific as well as in the [rest of] world to really talk to their lawmakers to please have some sort of moral obligation and things like that to do the right thing."