Gilbert and Ellice Islands the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony, and the Tuvaluans wanted equal representation to that of the I-Kiribati. A new constitution was introduced in 1971, which provided that each of the islands of Tuvalu (except Niulakita) elected one representative. However that did not end the Tuvaluan movement for independence. In 1974 Ministerial government was introduced in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony through a change to the Constitution. The 1967 constitution created a parliament, whose members were elected in the following elections: A referendum was held in December 1974 to determine whether the Gilbert Islands and Ellice Islands should each have
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands comprised over an area of of sea. The latter area was comparable in size to the continental United States. The water area is about 2% of the Pacific Ocean. The population of the islands was 200,000 in the latter part of the 19th century. The population decreased to 100,000 by 1969 due to emigration, war, and disease. At that time, the population inhabited less than 100 out of 2,141 of the Marshall, Mariana, and Caroline Islands. In 1947 the Mariana Islands' Teacher Training School (MITTS), a normal school serving all areas of the Trust Territory, opened in Guam. It moved