Query: Thousands of coral atolls have "drowned" when unable to grow fast enough to survive at sea level.

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Kiribati <=SEP=> Kiribati ( -LSB- ˌkɪrɪˈbæs -RSB- or -LSB- ˌkɪrɪˈbɑːti -RSB- ) , officially the Republic of Kiribati ( Gilbertese : Ribaberiki Kiribati ) , is an island nation in the central Pacific Ocean . The permanent population is just over 100,000 ( 2011 ) , more than half of whom live on Tarawa Atoll . The nation comprises 33 atolls and reef islands and one raised coral island , Banaba . They have a total land area of 800 km2 and are dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometres ( 1,351,000 square miles ) . Their spread straddles the equator and the 180th meridian , although the International Date Line is indented to bring the Line Islands in the same day as the Kiribati Islands . The International Date Line circumscribes Kiribati by swinging far to the east , almost reaching the 150 ° W meridian . Kiribati 's easternmost islands , the southern Line Islands , south of Hawaii , have the most advanced time on Earth , UTC +14 hours .   Kiribati became independent from the United Kingdom in 1979 . The capital and now most populated area , South Tarawa , consists of a number of islets , connected by a series of causeways . These comprise about half the area of Tarawa Atoll .   Kiribati is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations , the IMF and the World Bank , and became a full member of the United Nations in 1999 .

Tuvalu <=SEP=> Tuvalu ( -LSB- tᵿˈvɑːlu -RSB- or -LSB- ˈtuːvəˌluː -RSB- ) , formerly known as the Ellice Islands , is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean , about midway between Hawaii and Australia , lying east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands ( belonging to the Solomons ) , southeast of Nauru , south of Kiribati , west of Tokelau , northwest of Samoa and Wallis and Futuna and north of Fiji . 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 . Tuvalu has a population of 10,640 ( 2012 census ) . The total land area of the islands of Tuvalu is 26 km2 .   The first inhabitants of Tuvalu were Polynesians . The pattern of settlement that is believed to have occurred is that the Polynesians spread out from Samoa and Tonga into the Tuvaluan atolls , with Tuvalu providing a stepping stone to migration into the Polynesian Outlier communities in Melanesia and Micronesia .   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 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 .   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 , the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony ceased to exist on 1 January 1976 and the separate British colonies of Kiribati and Tuvalu came into existence . Tuvalu became fully independent within the Commonwealth on 1 October 1978 . On 5 September 2000 Tuvalu became the 189th member of the United Nations .

Maldives <=SEP=> The Maldives ( -LSB- ˈmɒldiːvz -RSB- , -LSB- ˈmɔːldiːvz -RSB- , -LSB- ˈmɔːldaɪvz -RSB- or -LSB- ˈmældaɪvz -RSB- ) , officially the Republic of Maldives ( ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ , Dhivehi Raa ` jeyge Jumhooriyya ) , is a South Asian island country , located in the Indian Ocean , situated in the Arabian Sea . It lies southwest of India and Sri Lanka . The chain of twenty-six atolls stretches from Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the north to the Addu City in the south . Comprising a territory spanning roughly 298 km2 , the Maldives is one of the world 's most geographically dispersed countries , as well as the smallest Asian country by both land area and population , with a little over 393,500 inhabitants . Malé is the capital and most populated city , traditionally called the `` King 's Island '' for its central location .   The Maldives archipelago is located atop the Chagos-Maldives-Laccadive Ridge , a vast submarine mountain range in the Indian Ocean , which also forms a terrestrial ecoregion , together with the Chagos and the Lakshadweep . With an average ground-level elevation of 1.5 m above sea level , it is the world 's lowest country , with even its highest natural point being the lowest in the world , at 2.4 m. Due to the subsequent risks posed by rising sea-levels , the government pledged in 2009 to make the Maldives a carbon-neutral country by 2019 .   The Maldives have been historically and culturally linked to the Indian subcontinent since the fourth century BCE . The Maldivian archipelago was Islamised in the 12th century and consolidated as a sultanate , developing strong commercial and cultural ties with Asia and Africa . From the mid 16th-century , the region came under the increasing influence of European colonial powers , with the Maldives becoming a British protectorate in 1887 . Independence from the United Kingdom was achieved in 1965 and a presidential republic was established in 1968 with an elected People 's Majlis . The ensuing decades have been characterised by political instability , efforts at democratic reform , and environmental challenges posed by climate change .   The Maldives is a founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation ( SAARC ) . It is also a member of the United Nations , the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Non Aligned Movement . The World Bank classifies the Maldives as having an upper middle income economy . Fishing has historically been the dominant economic activity , and remains the largest sector by far , followed by the rapidly growing tourism industry . Along with Sri Lanka , it is one of only two South Asian countries rated `` high '' on the Human Development Index ( HDI ) , with its per capita income the highest among SAARC nations .   The Maldives was a Commonwealth republic from July 1982 until its withdrawal from the Commonwealth in October 2016 in protest of international criticism of its records in relation to corruption and human rights .

Micronesia <=SEP=> Micronesia ( from μικρός , mikrós , `` small '' + νῆσος , nêsos , `` island '' ) is a subregion of Oceania , comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean . It has a shared cultural history with two other island regions , Polynesia to the east and Melanesia to the south .   The region has a tropical marine climate , and is part of the Oceania ecozone . There are four main archipelagos along with numerous outlying islands .   Micronesia is divided politically among several sovereign countries . One of these is the Federated States of Micronesia , which is often called `` Micronesia '' for short and is not to be confused with the overall region . The Micronesia region encompasses five sovereign , independent nations -- the Federated States of Micronesia , Palau , Kiribati , Marshall Islands , and Nauru -- as well as three U.S. territories in the northern part : Northern Mariana Islands , Guam , and Wake Island .   Micronesia began to be settled several millennia ago , although there are competing theories about the origin and arrival of the first settlers . The earliest known contact with Europeans occurred in 1521 , when Ferdinand Magellan reached the Marianas . The coinage of the term `` Micronesia '' is usually attributed to Jules Dumont d'Urville 's usage in 1832 , however Domeny de Rienzi had used the term a year previously .