Tuvalu in other languages: Funafuti, official languages and councils
Tuvalu has the same name in Tuvaluan and English, its two official languages, and nearly every other language takes it over unchanged. It carries the ISO 3166-1 codes TV, TUV and 798. The lists below give the country in 165 languages and the capital Funafuti in 51, followed by the nine island councils and their main villages.
Official languagesTuvaluan, English
Checked
- alpha-2
- TV
- alpha-3
- TUV
- numeric
- 798
Tuvalu
Tuvalu
- English
- TuvaluTuvalu
- Capital
- FunafutiFunafuti
ISO 3166-1, checked 28 October 2026
Tuvalu in other languages: list of exonyms
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, Afrikaans, Asturian, Breton, Catalan, Czech, Cornish, Danish, Lower Sorbian, Estonian, Basque, Faroese, Finnish, Kven, French, Franco-Provençal, Friulian, Galician, Manx, Croatian, Upper Sorbian, Hungarian, Igbo, Interlingua, Indonesian, Italian, Javanese, Jersey Norman French, Latvian, Lingala, Lithuanian, Ladin, Latgalian, Maltese, Nahuatl, Dutch, Norwegian, Novial, Occitan, Polish, Portuguese, Romansh, Romanian, Aromanian, Sicilian, Slovak, Slovenian, Northern Sami, Samogitian, Spanish, Albanian, Sardinian, Saterland Frisian, Swahili, Swedish, Tahitian, Tetum, Tokelauan, Tongan, Tok Pisin, Turkish, Tuvaluan, Võro, Wolof, Zazaki, German, Luxembourgish, Low German | eng / afr / ast / bre / cat / ces / cor / dan / dsb / est / eus / fao / fin / fkv / fra / frp / fur / glg / glv / hrv / hsb / hun / ibo / ina / ind / ita / jav / jnf / lav / lin / lit / lld / ltg / mlt / nah / nld / nor / nov / oci / pol / por / roh / ron / rup / scn / slk / slv / sme / smg / spa / sqi / srd / stq / swa / swe / tah / tet / tkl / ton / tpi / tur / tvl / vor / wol / zza / deu / ltz / nds | Tuvalu | same as written |
| Azerbaijani, Crimean Tatar, Gagauz, Karakalpak, Moldovan, Slovio | aze / crh / gag / kaa / mol / slo | Tuvalu / Тувалу | Tuvalu |
| Bambara, Quechua | bam / que | Tuwalu | same as written |
| Haitian Creole, Walloon | hat / wln | Touvalou | same as written |
| Aragonese | arg | Tuvalu, Tubalu | same as written |
| Bosnian | bos | Tuvalu / Тувалу / تۆوالۆ | Tuvalu |
| Welsh | cym | Twfalu | same as written |
| Esperanto | epo | Tuvalo | same as written |
| West Frisian, Kurmanji Kurdish | fry / kur | Tûvalû | same as written |
| Scottish Gaelic | gla | Tubhalu | same as written |
| Irish | gle | Tuvalú | same as written |
| Icelandic | isl | Túvalú | same as written |
| Latin | lat | Tuvalum, Insulae Tuvaluae, Tuvalu | same as written |
| Malagasy | mlg | Tovalo | same as written |
| Malay | msa | Tuvalu / توۏالو | Tuvalu |
| Norman French | nrm | Tuvalou | same as written |
| Kalderash Romani | rmy | Tuvalu / तुवालु | Tuvalu |
| Turkmen | tuk | Tuwalu / Тувалу | Tuwalu |
| Uzbek | uzb | Tuvalu / Тувалу / تۇۋەلۇ | Tuvalu |
| Vietnamese | vie | Tu-va-lu | same as written |
| Volapük | vol | Tuvaluäns | same as written |
| Abkhaz, Abaza, Altai, Bulgarian, Chuvash, Kabardian, Khakas, Komi, Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, Lezgi, Meadow Mari, Macedonian, Mongolian, Ossetian, Rusyn, Russian, Yakut, Tuvan, Udmurt, Ukrainian, Kalmyk | abk / abq / alt / bul / chv / kbd / kjh / kom / krc / kum / lez / mhr / mkd / mon / oss / rue / rus / sah / tyv / udm / ukr / xal | Тувалу | Tuvalu |
| Bashkir, Chechen, Serbian | bak / che / srp | Тувалу / Tuvalu | Tuvalu |
| Avar | ava | Тувалу | Tuwalu |
| Belarusian | bel | Тувалу / Tuvału | Tuvału |
| Kazakh | kaz | Тувалу / تۋۆالۋ / Twvalw | Twvalw |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Тувалу / تۇۋالۇ / Tuvalu | Tuvalu |
| Kurdish (Caucasus) | kmr | Тувалу / Tûvalû | Tûvalû |
| Tatar | tat | Тувалу / Tuvalu / تۇۋالۇ | Tuvalu |
| Tajik | tgk | Тувалу / توولو / Tuvalu | Tuvalu |
| Arabic | ara | توفالو | Tūfālū |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | تووالو / Tuvalu | Tuvalu |
| Sorani Kurdish | ckb | توڤالو / Tuvalu | Tuvalu |
| Persian | fas | تووالو / Tuvâlu | Tuvâlu |
| Western Punjabi | pnb | ٹووالو | Ṫūvālū |
| Dari | prs | تووالو | Tūvālū |
| Pashto | pus | تووالو | Tūwālū |
| Uyghur | uig | تۇۋالۇ / Tuwalu / Тувалу | Tuwalu |
| Urdu | urd | ٹووالو, تووالو | Ṫūvālū, Tūvālū |
| Dhivehi | div | ޓުވާލޫ | Ṫuvālū |
| Hebrew | heb | טובלו, טובאלו | Ṭūṿalū, Ṭūṿālū |
| Ladino | lad | טובﬞאלו / Tuvalu | Tuvalu |
| Yiddish | yid | טוּװאַלו | Tuvalu |
| Amharic | amh | ቱቫሉ | Tuvalu |
| Greek (Demotic) | ell | Τουβαλού | Toyvaloý |
| Greek (Katharevousa) | ell | Τουβαλοῦ | Toyvaloỹ |
| Armenian | hye | Տուվալու, Թուվալու | Touvalou, T̕ouvalou |
| Georgian, Mingrelian | kat / xmf | ტუვალუ | Tuvalu |
| Laz | lzz | ტუვალუ / T’uvalu | T’uvalu |
| Hindi | hin | तुवालु | Tuvālu |
| Bengali | ben | টুভালু | Ṭubʰālu |
| Gujarati | guj | તુવાલુ | Tuvālu |
| Odia | ori | ତୁଭାଲୂ | Tubʰālū |
| Punjabi | pan | ਟੂਵਾਲੂ | Ṭūvālū |
| Sinhala | sin | ටුවාලු | Ṭuvālu |
| Kannada | kan | ತುವಾಲು | Tuvālu |
| Malayalam | mal | ടുവാലു, തുവാലു | Ṭuvālu, Tuvālu |
| Tamil | tam | துவாலு, துவாலூ | Tuvālu, Tuvālū |
| Telugu | tel | తువాలు | Tuvālu |
| Chinese | zho | 圖瓦盧/图瓦卢 | Túwǎlú |
| Japanese | jpn | トゥヴァル, ツバル | Tuvaru, Tsubaru |
| Korean | kor | 투발루 | Tuballu |
| Tibetan | bod | ཏུ་ཝ་ལུ། | Tu.wa.lu |
| Burmese | mya | တူဗလူး | Tubálù |
| Thai | tha | ตูวาลู | Tūwālū |
| Khmer | khm | ទុយវ៉ាលុយ, ទូវ៉ាលូ | Tuyvāluy, Tūvālū |
Tuvalu, Tuwalu, Túvalú: a name that hardly changes
With 68 languages writing it exactly as Tuvalu, the country has one of the most stable names in this collection. Where it does change, the change follows the sound system of the language. Bambara and Quechua write Tuwalu, Welsh Twfalu, Scottish Gaelic Tubhalu and Malagasy Tovalo; Irish and Icelandic mark the long vowels, Tuvalú and Túvalú, and Esperanto writes Tuvalo. Latin offers three forms, Tuvalum, Insulae Tuvaluae and Tuvalu.
Scripts other than Latin transcribe the same sounds. Russian and the other Cyrillic languages write Тувалу, Arabic توفالو (Tūfālū) with f, Hebrew טובלו (Ṭūṿalū), Greek Τουβαλού (Toyvaloý) and Hindi तुवालु (Tuvālu). Chinese chooses 圖瓦盧 (Túwǎlú), and Japanese has two forms, トゥヴァル (Tuvaru) and ツバル (Tsubaru).
The official languages are Tuvaluan, which the list writes as ʻgana Tuvalu, and English. The currency is the Australian dollar.
Funafuti, the capital of Tuvalu, in other languages
| Languages | ISO 639-3 | Name | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|
| English, French, Latvian, German, Luxembourgish, Low German, Irish | eng / fra / lav / deu / ltz / nds / gle | Funafuti | same as written |
| Azerbaijani, Moldovan, Turkmen | aze / mol / tuk | Funafuti / Фунафути | Funafuti |
| Lithuanian, Samogitian | lit / smg | Funafutis | same as written |
| Bosnian | bos | Funafuti / Фунафути / فۆنافۆتٖى | Funafuti |
| Esperanto | epo | Funafutio | same as written |
| Kurmanji Kurdish | kur | Fûnafûtî | same as written |
| Malay | msa | Funafuti / فونافوتي | Funafuti |
| Uzbek | uzb | Funafuti / Фунафути / فۇنەفۇتى | Funafuti |
| Bulgarian, Mongolian, Russian | bul / mon / rus | Фунафути | Funafuti |
| Bashkir, Serbian | bak / srp | Фунафути / Funafuti | Funafuti |
| Belarusian | bel | Фунафуты / Funafuty, Фунафуці / Funafuci | Funafuty, Funafuci |
| Kazakh | kaz | Фунафути / فۋنافۋتي / Fwnafwtï | Fwnafwtï |
| Kyrgyz | kir | Фунафути / فۇنافۇتئ / Funafuti | Funafuti |
| Tatar | tat | Фунафути / Funafuti / فۇنافۇتى | Funafuti |
| Tajik | tgk | Фунафути / فونفوتی / Funafuti | Funafuti |
| Ukrainian | ukr | Фунафуті | Funafuti |
| Arabic, Pashto | ara / pus | فونافوتي | Fūnāfūtī |
| South Azerbaijani | azb | فونافوتی / Funafuti | Funafuti |
| Persian | fas | فونافوتی / Funâfuti | Funâfuti |
| Uyghur | uig | فۇنافۇتى / Funafuti / Фунафути | Funafuti |
| Urdu | urd | فونافوتی | Fūnāfūtī |
| Hebrew | heb | פונפוטי, פונאפוטי | Fūnafūṭī, Fūnāfūṭī |
| Yiddish | yid | פֿונאַפֿוטי | Funafuti |
| Amharic | amh | ፉናፉቲ | Funafuti |
| Greek | ell | Φουναφούτι | Foynafoýti |
| Armenian | hye | Ֆունաֆուտի | Founafouti |
| Georgian | kat | ფუნაფუტი | Ṗunaṗuti |
| Nepali | nep | फुनाफुटि | Pʰunāpʰuṭi |
| Bengali | ben | ফুনাফুটি | Pʰunāpʰuṭi |
| Punjabi | pan | ਫੂਨਾਫੂਟੀ | Pʰūnāpʰūṭī |
| Kannada | kan | ಫುನಫುಟಿ | Pʰunapʰuṭi |
| Tamil | tam | புனபூட்டி | Puṉapūṭṭi |
| Telugu | tel | ఫునఫుటి | Pʰunapʰuṭi |
| Chinese | zho | 富納富提/富纳富提 | Fùnàfùtí |
| Japanese | jpn | フナフティ | Funafuti |
| Korean | kor | 푸나푸티 | Punaputi |
| Thai | tha | ฟูนะฟูตี, ฟูนาฟูติ | Fūnafūtī, Fūnāfūti |
| Khmer | khm | ហ្វឺណាហ្វឺទី, ហ្វូណាហ្វូទី | Hvʉ̄ṇāhvʉ̄tī, Hvūṇāhvūtī |
The island councils of Tuvalu and their villages
Tuvalu is divided into one town council for the capital atoll Funafuti and eight island councils. Each row gives the council, its ISO 3166-2 code and its administrative centre.
| ISO 3166-2 | English | English | Administrative centre | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Councils9 | ||||
| TV-FUN | Funafuti Town Council | Funafuti | FongafaleFongafale | |
| TV-NMG | Nanumanga Island Council | Nanumaga | TongaTonga | ISO writes the name Nanumaga |
| TV-NMA | Nanumea Island Council | Nanumea | LoluaLolua | |
| TV-NIT | Niutao Island Council | Niutao | KuaKua | |
| TV-NUIwas TV-NIU | Nui Island Council | Nui | TanrakeTanrake | 2007 Code changed from TV-NIU to TV-NUI |
| TV-NKF | Nukufetau Island Council | Nukufetau | SavaveSavave | |
| TV-NKL | Nukulaelae Island Council | Nukulaelae | FangauaFangaua | |
| TV-VAI | Vaitupu Island Council | Vaitupu | AsauAsau | |
| — | Niulakita Island Council | Niulakita | NiulakitaNiulakita | No ISO 3166-2 code of its own; ISO codes eight councils |
Codes: ISO 3166-2:TV and its change of 2007, read from the English Wikipedia article that reproduces it on 28 October 2026. Council names and centres: the 2016 edition of this list.
Nine islands, eight ISO codes
ISO 3166-2 has listed codes for Tuvalu since 2007, when it added one town council and seven island councils. Niulakita has a council in this list but no code of its own in ISO 3166-2. Nui was first coded TV-NIU and received TV-NUI in the second edition of the standard at the end of 2007.
The Funafuti Town Council has its centre in Fongafale. The other councils are named after their islands and administered from: Tonga on Nanumaga, Lolua on Nanumea, Kua on Niutao, Tanrake on Nui, Savave on Nukufetau, Fangaua on Nukulaelae and Asau on Vaitupu.
Questions about Tuvalu
What is the capital of Tuvalu?
Funafuti. Its town council has its centre in Fongafale.
What are the official languages of Tuvalu?
Tuvaluan and English. The country is called Tuvalu in both.
How many island councils does Tuvalu have?
Nine in this list: the Funafuti Town Council and eight island councils. ISO 3166-2 codes eight of them; Niulakita has no code.