Tuvalu is a country under threat of submergence due to ice melting and sea level rise. Tuvalu is a group of nine tiny islands in the South Pacific which won independence from the United Kingdom in 1978. Five of the islands are coral atolls, the other four consist of the land rising from the sea bed. Formerly known as the Ellice Islands, all are low-lying, with no point on Tuvalu being higher than 4.5 m above the sea level. Recently, the local politicians have campaigned against climate change, arguing that it could see the islands swamped by the rising sea levels.