Tuvalu is one of the least visited countries on earth. A single airline, Fiji Airways, operates the only scheduled flights in and out, connecting the capital atoll of Funafuti to Fiji a few times a week, and there is no other way to reach the country by air. The entire nation is made up of nine coral atolls covering roughly 26 square kilometres, smaller than many major airports, and is home to just under 11,000 people. Life here has always moved differently from most of the world, shaped by close communal ties and a cash-based economy that only recently saw its first ATMs installed. But scientists now warn Tuvalu faces a far bigger question than isolation: whether the country will remain habitable at all as sea levels continue to rise. Tuvalu's government has also explored more unconventional responses to this crisis, including efforts to digitally preserve the nation's culture and even legal identity, in case rising seas eventually force its population to relocate entirely.
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