Tuvalu

Coordinates: 8°S 178°E / 8°S 178°E / -8; 178

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 10,837 (2012 census). The total land area of the islands of Tuvalu is 26 square kilometres (10 sq mi).

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 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.

Tuvalu mo te Atua

Tuvalu for the Almighty (Tuvaluan: Tuvalu mo te Atua) is the national anthem of Tuvalu. The lyrics and music are by Afaese Manoa.

It was adopted in 1978, when the country became independent.

Lyrics

See also

External links

National anthem

A national anthem (also state anthem, national hymn, national song etc.) is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people. The majority of national anthems are either marches or hymns in style. The countries of Latin America tend towards more operatic pieces, while a handful of countries use a simple fanfare.

Languages

Although national anthems are usually in the most common language of the country, whether de facto' or official, there are notable exceptions-

States with more than one national language may offer several versions of their anthem: for instance, Switzerland's anthem has different lyrics for each of the country's four official languages (French, German, Italian and Romansh). Canada's national anthem has different lyrics in each of the country's official languages (English and French), and on some occasions is sung with a mixture of stanzas taken from its French and English versions. The Irish national anthem was written in English; an Irish translation, although never formally adopted, is now almost always sung.

2012 Summer Olympics

The 2012 Summer Olympics, formally the Games of the XXX Olympiad and commonly known as London 2012, was a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Olympic Games, as governed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It took place in London and to a lesser extent across the United Kingdom from 25 July to 12 August 2012. The first event, the group stage in women's football began on 25 July at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, followed by the opening ceremonies on 27 July. More than 10,000 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated.

Following a bid headed by former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe and then-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, London was selected as the host city on 6 July 2005 during the 117th IOC Session in Singapore, defeating bids from Moscow, New York City, Madrid and Paris. London was the first city to host the modern Olympic Games three times, having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948.

Construction for the Games involved considerable redevelopment, with an emphasis on sustainability. The main focus was a new 200-hectare (490-acre) Olympic Park, constructed on a former industrial site at Stratford, East London. The Games also made use of venues that already existed before the bid.

Tove Lo

Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson (born October 29, 1987), better known by her stage name Tove Lo (/ˌtoʊvˈloʊ/ TOHV LOH Swedish pronunciation: [ˈtuːˈvɛ ˈluː]), is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She was born and raised in Djursholm, a suburb north of Stockholm, where she graduated from musical magnet school Rytmus Musikergymnasiet. Lo formed the Swedish rock band Tremblebee in 2006. Following the disbanding of Tremblebee, Lo pursued a career in songwriting, earning a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music in 2011. Working with producers Alexander Kronlund, Max Martin and Xenomania, Lo became a successful songwriter while recording and independently releasing her own compositions. In 2014, she was signed to Martin's songwriting collective Wolf Cousins, and offered a recording deal, signing to Island and Polydor Records.

Lo rose to fame with the release of her debut studio album Queen of the Clouds, which opened at number 14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 in October 2014. The album spawned the sleeper hit single, "Habits (Stay High)", which peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. In addition to her solo work, Lo has co-written a number of songs for other singers, including Hilary Duff's "Sparks" and Ellie Goulding's "Love Me like You Do", which garnered her first Grammy Award nomination on 7 December 2015.