Elections and political parties in Tuvalu scale of the 15 seat parliament, Tuvalu has no political parties, meaning that the political system in Tuvalu exhibits the traits of a Non-partisan democracy. During the time Tuvalu was a British dependency the parliament was called the House of the Assembly or "Fale I Fono". Following independence in October 1978 the House of the Assembly was renamed the Parliament of Tuvalu or "Palamene o Tuvalu". As a consequence of the Ellice Islands self-determination referendum, 1974, separation occurred in two stages. The Tuvaluan Order 1975, which took effect on 1 October 1975, recognised Tuvalu as a separate British dependency with
Rugby union in the Marshall Islands population and geographical factors - their population is 61,963, and lives on 29 coral atolls and 5 isolated islands in the South Pacific Ocean. All of this makes a rugby infrastructure difficult to construct, and the islands are beset by rising sea levels. The geographic future of the Marshall Islands depends on the height of the ocean. No significant land is more than two metres above high water of ordinary tides. This means they are particularly vulnerable to any possible sea level rises caused by global warming. There is also a lack of land for specifically designated rugby pitches. Much