In an average year Tuvalu welcomes about .006 per cent of the visitors France receives each day (1290 versus 208,000, in case you're wondering). Blissful inactivity is the coin of Tuvalu's touristic realm, and what better place to relish restfulness than on a lonely, magnificent South Sea beach?

• TOTAL AREA: 26 sq km

• LAND AREA: 26 sq km

• WATER AREA: 0 sq km

• POPULATION: 11,810

• RELIGIONS: Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1.4%, Baha'i 1%

• LANGUAGES: Tuvaluan, English, Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui)

• GOVERNMENT TYPE: Constitutional Monarchy with a Parliamentary Democracy; began debating republic status in 1992

• CAPITAL CITY: Funafuti

• OFFICIAL CURRENCY: Australian dollar (AUD); note - there is also a Tuvaluan dollar

• TIME ZONE: GMT/UTC +12