page_title: Funafuti
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Funafuti / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Woman on FunafutiLëtzebuergesch: Fra op Funafuti, fotograféiert am Joer 1900 vum Harry Clifford Fassett
context_page_description: Funafuti is an atoll and the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 6,320 people, making it the country's most populated atoll, with 60.15 percent of Tuvalu's population. It is a narrow sweep of land between 20 and 400 metres wide, encircling a large lagoon 18 km long and 14 km wide. The average depth in the Funafuti lagoon is about 20 fathoms. With a surface of 275 square kilometres, it is by far the largest lagoon in Tuvalu. The land area of the 33 islets aggregates to 2.4 square kilometres, less than one percent of the total area of the atoll. Cargo ships can enter Funafuti's lagoon and dock at the port facilities on Fongafale.
  The capital of Tuvalu is sometimes given as Fongafale or Vaiaku, but the entire atoll of Funafuti is officially the capital since it comprises a single local government.
context_section_description: The founding ancestor of the people of Funafuti is described as being from Samoa. The name of one of the islets Funafala means 'the pandanus of Funa', the name of a chief, after whom also the atoll has been named Funafuti.
  The first European to visit Funafuti was Arent Schuyler de Peyster, of New York, captain of the armed brigantine or privateer Rebecca, sailing under British colours. Arent Schuyler de Peyster passed through the southern Tuvalu waters in May 1819 sighting 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 United States Exploring Expedition under Charles Wilkes visited Funafuti in 1841. The US claimed Funafuti under the Guano Islands Act from the 19th century until a treaty of friendship was concluded in 1979, coming into effect in 1983.
  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; with his name continuing on Funafuti. Alfred Restieaux was a trader on Funafuti from July 1881 until about 1888 or 1889.
  Thomas Andrew (photographer) visited Funafuti in about 1885–86.
  In 1892 Captain Davis of HMS Royalist, reported on trading activities and traders on each of the islands visited. Captain Davis identified Jack O'Brien as being a trader on Funafuti; who was also identified as being on the atoll in 1896.
  In 1894, Count Rudolph Festetics de Tolna, his wife Eila (née Haggin) and her daughter Blanche Haggin visited Funafuti aboard the yacht Le Tolna. The Count spent several days photographing men and woman of Funafuti.
  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 whether traces of shallow water organisms could be found at depth in the coral, as a test of Charles Darwin's theory of coral atoll formation. Drilling occurred in 1896, 1897 and 1898. Professor Sollas, the leader of the 1896 expedition, published a report on the study of the atoll.  Professor Edgeworth David of the University of Sydney was a member of the 1896 expedition and was the leader of the 1897 expedition. Photographers on the expeditions recorded people, communities and scenes at Funafuti.
  Harry Clifford Fassett, captain's clerk and photographer, recorded people, communities and scenes at Funafuti during a visit of USFC Albatross when the US Fish Commission was investigating the formation of coral reefs on Pacific atolls.
  The population of Funafuti from 1860 to 1900 is estimated to be between 280 and 300 people.
  Funafuti Post Office opened around 1911.
  During the Japanese occupation of the Gilbert Islands, Funafuti became in 1942 the provisional headquarters of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, replacing occupied Ocean Island, until they were returned to South Tarawa in 1946.
caption: Woman on Funafuti, Harry Clifford Fassett (1900)
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