96% of the Tuvaluans are ethnic Polynesians, closely related to the people of Samoa and Tonga. The vast majority belong to the Church of Tuvalu , a Protestant denomination. Their ancestors were converted by Christian missionaries decades ago.

Population: 10,838 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 34% (male 1,872; female 1,802)
15-64 years: 61% (male 3,149; female 3,458)
65 years and over: 5% (male 239; female 318) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.41% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 21.78 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 7.66 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 23.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 66.32 years
male: 64.21 years
female: 68.53 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.11 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Tuvaluan(s)
adjective: Tuvaluan

Ethnic groups: Polynesian 96%

Religions: Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%, Seventh-day Adventist 1.4%, Bahá'í 1%, other 0.6%

Languages: Tuvaluan, English