Tiny Tuvalu to join Olympic family

The tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, among the world's smallest, is set to become a member of the Olympic family, the IOC said. Tuvalu, population 12,000, will be recommended to the IOC Session as the 205th member this week in Guatemala City. The...

The tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, among the world's smallest, is set to become a member of the Olympic family, the IOC said.

Tuvalu, population 12,000, will be recommended to the IOC Session as the 205th member this week in Guatemala City. The decision was taken during an IOC Executive Board meeting in Guatemala prior to the session.

The IOC session will also rubber-stamp the membership of Montenegro, which broke away from Serbia last year and was proposed for IOC membership in February.

"The decision must be taken by all members," IOC Director of Communications Giselle Davies told reporters.

Tuvalu, a former British colony composed of nine coral atolls, gained independence in 1978 and was recognised by the United Nations in 2000.

Nearby Kiribati, another Pacific Ocean nation, joined the IOC in 2003.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.