Answer: predominantly gray

Context: All versions of the SNES are predominantly gray, although the exact shade may differ. The original North American version, designed by Nintendo of America industrial designer Lance Barr (who previously redesigned the Famicom to become the NES), has a boxy design with purple sliding switches and a dark gray eject lever. The loading bay surface is curved, both to invite interaction and to prevent food or drinks from being placed on the console and spilling as had happened with the flat surfaced NES. The Japanese and European versions are more rounded, with darker gray accents and buttons. The North American SNS-101 model and the Japanese Super Famicom Jr. (the SHVC-101 model), all designed by Barr, are both smaller with a rounded contour; however, the SNS-101 buttons are purple where the Super Famicom Jr. buttons are gray. The European and American versions of the SNES controllers have much longer cables compared to the Japanese Super Famicom controllers.

Question: What color is the SNES?


Answer: Lance Barr

Question: Who designed the North American SNES?


Answer: industrial designer

Question: What was Barr's job?


Answer: purple

Question: What color were the North American SNES's buttons?


Answer: gray

Question: What color were the Japanese Super Famicom Jr.'s buttons?


Answer: top-loading

Context: All versions incorporate a top-loading slot for game cartridges, although the shape of the slot differs between regions to match the different shapes of the cartridges. The MULTI OUT connector (later used on the Nintendo 64 and GameCube) can output composite video, S-Video and RGB signals, as well as RF with an external RF modulator. Original versions additionally include a 28-pin expansion port under a small cover on the bottom of the unit and a standard RF output with channel selection switch on the back; the redesigned models output composite video only, requiring an external modulator for RF.

Question: How is the SNES's slot positioned?


Answer: composite video, S-Video and RGB signals, as well as RF with an external RF modulator

Question: What connection types did MULTI OUT support?


Answer: 28

Question: How many pins did the SNES expansion port have?


Answer: composite

Question: What output type was the only one directly supported on the SNS-101?


Answer: Nintendo 64 and GameCube

Question: What other Nintendo systems used MULTI OUT?


Answer: ABS plastic

Context: The ABS plastic used in the casing of some older SNES and Super Famicom consoles is particularly susceptible to oxidization on exposure to air, likely due to an incorrect mixture of the stabilizing or flame retarding additives. This, along with the particularly light color of the original plastic, causes affected consoles to quickly become yellow; if the sections of the casing came from different batches of plastic, a "two-tone" effect results. The color can sometimes be restored with UV light and a hydrogen peroxide solution.

Question: What material is the SNES case made of?


Answer: oxidization

Question: What chemical process turned some SNES cases yellow?


Answer: an incorrect mixture of the stabilizing or flame retarding additives

Question: What mixture error in the plastic caused some SNES cases to turn yellow?


Answer: with UV light and a hydrogen peroxide solution

Question: How can SNES yellowing sometimes be reversed?


Answer: if the sections of the casing came from different batches of plastic

Question: Why would some SNESes be only partly yellow?


Answer: Game Pak

Context: The cartridge media of the console is officially referred to as Game Pak in most Western regions, and as Cassette (カセット, Kasetto?) in Japan and parts of Latin America. While the SNES can address 128 Mbit,[f] only 117.75 Mbit are actually available for cartridge use. A fairly normal mapping could easily address up to 95 Mbit of ROM data (48 Mbit at FastROM speed) with 8 Mbit of battery-backed RAM. However, most available memory access controllers only support mappings of up to 32 Mbit. The largest games released (Tales of Phantasia and Star Ocean) contain 48 Mbit of ROM data, while the smallest games contain only 2 Mbit.

Question: What are SNES game cartridges officially called in the US?


Answer: Cassette

Question: What are SNES game cartridges officially called in Japan?


Answer: 117.75 Mbit

Question: How much data space can an SNES cartridge use?


Answer: Tales of Phantasia and Star Ocean

Question: What were the largest SNES games?


Answer: 2 Mbit

Question: How much data do the smallest SNES games use?


Answer: X and Y

Context: The standard SNES controller adds two additional face buttons (X and Y) to the design of the NES iteration, arranging the four in a diamond shape, and introduces two shoulder buttons. It also features an ergonomic design by Lance Barr, later used for the NES-102 model controllers, also designed by Barr. The Japanese and PAL region versions incorporate the colors of the four action buttons into system's logo. The North American version's buttons are colored to match the redesigned console; the X and Y buttons are lavender with concave faces, and the A and B buttons are purple with convex faces. Several later consoles derive elements of their controller design from the SNES, including the PlayStation, Dreamcast, Xbox, and Wii Classic Controller.

Question: What face buttons do SNES controllers have that NES controllers didn't?


Answer: two

Question: How many shoulder buttons do SNES controllers have?


Answer: Lance Barr

Question: Who designed the SNES controllers?


Answer: lavender

Question: What color are the US SNES controllers' X and Y buttons?


Answer: purple

Question: What color are the US SNES controllers' A and B buttons?


Answer: Super Scope

Context: Throughout the course of its life, a number of peripherals were released which added to the functionality of the SNES. Many of these devices were modeled after earlier add-ons for the NES: the Super Scope is a light gun functionally similar to the NES Zapper (though the Super Scope features wireless capabilities) and the Super Advantage is an arcade-style joystick with adjustable turbo settings akin to the NES Advantage. Nintendo also released the SNES Mouse in conjunction with its Mario Paint title. Hudson Soft, under license from Nintendo, released the Super Multitap, a multiplayer adapter for use with its popular series of Bomberman games. Some of the more unusual controllers include the BatterUP baseball bat, the Life Fitness Entertainment System (an exercise bike controller with built-in monitoring software), and the TeeV Golf golf club.

Question: What game accessory was similar to the NES Zapper?


Answer: Super Advantage

Question: What game accessory was similar to the NES Advantage?


Answer: Mario Paint

Question: What game used the SNES Mouse?


Answer: BatterUP

Question: What game came with a baseball bat controller?


Answer: light gun

Question: What type of accessory was the Super Scope?


Answer: either daisy chaining the RF switches or using AV outputs for one or both systems

Context: While Nintendo never released an adapter for playing NES games on the SNES (though the instructions included a way to connect both consoles to the same TV by either daisy chaining the RF switches or using AV outputs for one or both systems), the Super Game Boy adapter cartridge allows games designed for Nintendo's portable Game Boy system to be played on the SNES. The Super Game Boy touted several feature enhancements over the Game Boy, including palette substitution, custom screen borders, and (for specially enhanced games) access to the SNES console. Japan also saw the release of the Super Game Boy 2, which added a communication port to enable a second Game Boy to connect for multiplayer games.

Question: How did Nintendo say an NES and SNES could be used on the same TV?


Answer: Game Boy

Question: Which other game system's cartridges could be adapted to the SNES?


Answer: palette substitution, custom screen borders, and (for specially enhanced games) access to the SNES console

Question: What improvements did the Super Game Boy have over the Game Boy?


Answer: Japan

Question: Where was the Super Game Boy 2 released?


Answer: a communication port to enable a second Game Boy to connect for multiplayer games

Question: What did the Super Game Boy 2 add?


Answer: Satellaview

Context: Japan saw the release of the Satellaview, a modem which attached to the Super Famicom's expansion port and connected to the St.GIGA satellite radio station. Users of the Satellaview could download gaming news and specially designed games, which were frequently either remakes of or sequels to older Famicom titles, released in installments. Satellaview signals were broadcast from April 23, 1995 through June 30, 2000. In the United States, the similar but relatively short-lived XBAND allowed users to connect to a network via a dial-up modem to compete against other players around the country.

Question: What modem was available for the Japanese SNES?


Answer: the St.GIGA satellite radio station

Question: What service did the Satellaview connect to?


Answer: April 23, 1995

Question: When did the Satellaview begin operation?


Answer: June 30, 2000

Question: When did the Satellaview end operation?


Answer: XBAND

Question: What was the US equivalent of Satellaview?


Answer: Sony and Philips

Context: During the SNES's life, Nintendo contracted with two different companies to develop a CD-ROM-based peripheral for the console to compete with Sega's CD-ROM based addon, Mega-CD. Ultimately, deals with both Sony and Philips fell through, (although a prototype console was produced by Sony) with Philips gaining the right to release a series of titles based on Nintendo franchises for its CD-i multimedia player and Sony going on to develop its own console based on its initial dealings with Nintendo (the PlayStation).

Question: Which companies did Nintendo try to get to make a CD add-on for the SNES?


Answer: CD-i

Question: What was Philips' multimedia system?


Answer: PlayStation

Question: What competing console did Sony release after working with Nintendo?


Answer: Mega-CD

Question: What was Sega's CD add-on?


Answer: flagrant software piracy

Context: Nintendo of America took the same stance against the distribution of SNES ROM image files and the use of emulators as it did with the NES, insisting that they represented flagrant software piracy. Proponents of SNES emulation cite discontinued production of the SNES constituting abandonware status, the right of the owner of the respective game to make a personal backup via devices such as the Retrode, space shifting for private use, the desire to develop homebrew games for the system, the frailty of SNES ROM cartridges and consoles, and the lack of certain foreign imports.

Question: What did Nintendo consider emulators?


Answer: abandonware

Question: What is the term for a software product abandoned by its owners?


Answer: Retrode

Question: What device allows backing up SNES games?


Answer: homebrew

Question: What is the term for homemade software?


Answer: Android devices, Apple's iPhone and iPad

Context: Emulation of the SNES is now available on handheld units, such as Android devices, Apple's iPhone and iPad, Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP), the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance, the Gizmondo, the Dingoo and the GP2X by GamePark Holdings, as well as PDAs. While individual games have been included with emulators on some GameCube discs, Nintendo's Virtual Console service for the Wii marks the introduction of officially sanctioned general SNES emulation, though SNES9x GX, a port of SNES9x, has been made for the Wii.

Question: What smartphones have SNES emulators?


Answer: Nintendo's Virtual Console service for the Wii

Question: What was Nintendo's first approved emulator?


Answer: Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP), the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance, the Gizmondo, the Dingoo and the GP2X by GamePark Holdings

Question: What portable game systems have SNES emulators?


Answer: GameTrailers

Context: In 2007, GameTrailers named the SNES as the second-best console of all time in their list of top ten consoles that "left their mark on the history of gaming", citing its graphic, sound, and library of top-quality games. In 2015, they also named it the best Nintendo console of all time, saying, "The list of games we love from this console completely annihilates any other roster from the Big N." Technology columnist Don Reisinger proclaimed "The SNES is the greatest console of all time" in January 2008, citing the quality of the games and the console's dramatic improvement over its predecessor; fellow technology columnist Will Greenwald replied with a more nuanced view, giving the SNES top marks with his heart, the NES with his head, and the PlayStation (for its controller) with his hands. GamingExcellence also gave the SNES first place in 2008, declaring it "simply the most timeless system ever created" with many games that stand the test of time and citing its innovation in controller design, graphics capabilities, and game storytelling. At the same time, GameDaily rated it fifth of ten for its graphics, audio, controllers, and games. In 2009, IGN named the Super Nintendo Entertainment System the fourth best video game console, complimenting its audio and "concentration of AAA titles".

Question: Which publication said Nintendo's best console ever was the SNES?


Answer: second-best

Question: Where did GameTrailers rank the SNES among all consoles?


Answer: Don Reisinger

Question: Which writer said the SNES was the best console ever from any company?


Answer: GamingExcellence

Question: Who said the SNES was "simply the most timeless system ever created"?


Answer: fourth best

Question: Where did IGN rank the SNES?


Answer: substrate language

Context: However, some scholars contest the idea of a Proto-Euphratean language or one substrate language. It has been suggested by them and others, that the Sumerian language was originally that of the hunter and fisher peoples, who lived in the marshland and the Eastern Arabia littoral region, and were part of the Arabian bifacial culture. Reliable historical records begin much later; there are none in Sumer of any kind that have been dated before Enmebaragesi (c. 26th century BC). Professor Juris Zarins believes the Sumerians were settled along the coast of Eastern Arabia, today's Persian Gulf region, before it flooded at the end of the Ice Age.

Question: Some scholars contest that there was only one what?


Answer: hunter and fisher peoples

Question: Who do some scholars think the Sumerian language originally belonged to?


Answer: marshland

Question: Where did the original Sumerians live?


Answer: Arabian bifacial

Question: What culture did the peoples who would be called Sumerian have a part in?


Answer: 26th century BC

Question: When were the earliest historical records of Sumer?


Answer: about a century

Context: Native Sumerian rule re-emerged for about a century in the Neo-Sumerian Empire or Third Dynasty of Ur (Sumerian Renaissance) approximately 2100-2000 BC, but the Akkadian language also remained in use. The Sumerian city of Eridu, on the coast of the Persian Gulf, is considered to have been the world's first city, where three separate cultures may have fused — that of peasant Ubaidian farmers, living in mud-brick huts and practicing irrigation; that of mobile nomadic Semitic pastoralists living in black tents and following herds of sheep and goats; and that of fisher folk, living in reed huts in the marshlands, who may have been the ancestors of the Sumerians.

Question: How long was there native Sumerian rule during the Third Dynasty of Ur?


Answer: approximately 2100-2000 BC

Question: When was the Third Dynasty of Ur?


Answer: Akkadian

Question: What language was in use in the Neo-Sumerian Empire?


Answer: Eridu

Question: What is considered to be the world's first city?


Answer: three

Question: How many cultures may have fused together in Eridu?


Answer: Sumerian

Context: The term "Sumerian" is the common name given to the ancient non-Semitic inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Sumer, by the Semitic Akkadians. The Sumerians referred to themselves as ùĝ saĝ gíg-ga (cuneiform: 𒌦 𒊕 𒈪 𒂵), phonetically /uŋ saŋ giga/, literally meaning "the black-headed people", and to their land as ki-en-gi(-r) ('place' + 'lords' + 'noble'), meaning "place of the noble lords". The Akkadian word Shumer may represent the geographical name in dialect, but the phonological development leading to the Akkadian term šumerû is uncertain. Hebrew Shinar, Egyptian Sngr, and Hittite Šanhar(a), all referring to southern Mesopotamia, could be western variants of Shumer.

Question: What is the common name given to the non-Semitic dwellers of Mesopotamia by the Akkadians?


Answer: "the black-headed people"

Question: What did the Sumerians refer to themselves as in their language?


Answer: "place of the noble lords"

Question: How did the Sumerians refer to their land?


Answer: geographical

Question: Shumer, an Akkadian word, could reference what type of name?


Answer: southern

Question: What compass point of Mesopotamia did the Hebrew Shinar refer to?


Answer: prehistoric Ubaid and Uruk

Context: The Sumerian city-states rose to power during the prehistoric Ubaid and Uruk periods. Sumerian written history reaches back to the 27th century BC and before, but the historical record remains obscure until the Early Dynastic III period, c. the 23rd century BC, when a now deciphered syllabary writing system was developed, which has allowed archaeologists to read contemporary records and inscriptions. Classical Sumer ends with the rise of the Akkadian Empire in the 23rd century BC. Following the Gutian period, there is a brief Sumerian Renaissance in the 21st century BC, cut short in the 20th century BC by Semitic Amorite invasions. The Amorite "dynasty of Isin" persisted until c. 1700 BC, when Mesopotamia was united under Babylonian rule. The Sumerians were eventually absorbed into the Akkadian (Assyro-Babylonian) population.

Question: During what periods did the Sumerican city-states rise to power?


Answer: Sumerian written history

Question: What is obscure until the Early Dynastic III period around the 23rd century BC?


Answer: syllabary writing system

Question: What was developed that has allowed archaeologists to read contemporary records and inscriptions?


Answer: rise of the Akkadian Empire

Question: When does Classical Sumer end?


Answer: Semitic Amorite invasions

Question: What cut short the Sumerian Renaissance in the 21st century BC?


Answer: Ubaid

Context: The Ubaid period is marked by a distinctive style of fine quality painted pottery which spread throughout Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf. During this time, the first settlement in southern Mesopotamia was established at Eridu (Cuneiform: NUN.KI), c. 5300 BC, by farmers who brought with them the Hadji Muhammed culture, which first pioneered irrigation agriculture. It appears that this culture was derived from the Samarran culture from northern Mesopotamia. It is not known whether or not these were the actual Sumerians who are identified with the later Uruk culture. Eridu remained an important religious center when it was gradually surpassed in size by the nearby city of Uruk. The story of the passing of the me (gifts of civilization) to Inanna, goddess of Uruk and of love and war, by Enki, god of wisdom and chief god of Eridu, may reflect this shift in hegemony.

Question: Fine quality painted pottery is a distinctive style of what period in Sumerian history?


Answer: Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf

Question: Where could the pottery be found spread throughout?


Answer: Eridu

Question: During the Ubaid, where was the first settlement in southern Mesopotamia established?


Answer: irrigation

Question: What type of agriculture did the farmers settling at Eridu bring with them?


Answer: Enki

Question: Who was the chief god of Eridu?


Answer: transported along the canals and rivers

Context: By the time of the Uruk period (c. 4100–2900 BC calibrated), the volume of trade goods transported along the canals and rivers of southern Mesopotamia facilitated the rise of many large, stratified, temple-centered cities (with populations of over 10,000 people) where centralized administrations employed specialized workers. It is fairly certain that it was during the Uruk period that Sumerian cities began to make use of slave labor captured from the hill country, and there is ample evidence for captured slaves as workers in the earliest texts. Artifacts, and even colonies of this Uruk civilization have been found over a wide area—from the Taurus Mountains in Turkey, to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, and as far east as central Iran.

Question: How were trade goods transported in southern Mesopotamia?


Answer: trade goods

Question: What facilitated the rise of Sumerian cities?


Answer: over 10,000

Question: How many people lived in the cities?


Answer: Uruk

Question: During which period did Sumerian cities begin using slave labor?


Answer: Artifacts

Question: What have been found as far east as central Iran?


Answer: priest-king

Context: Sumerian cities during the Uruk period were probably theocratic and were most likely headed by a priest-king (ensi), assisted by a council of elders, including both men and women. It is quite possible that the later Sumerian pantheon was modeled upon this political structure. There was little evidence of organized warfare or professional soldiers during the Uruk period, and towns were generally unwalled. During this period Uruk became the most urbanized city in the world, surpassing for the first time 50,000 inhabitants.

Question: What is an "ensi"?


Answer: theocratic

Question: What type of leadership did Sumerian cities during the Uruk period probably have?


Answer: a council of elders

Question: Who assisted the ensi?


Answer: Uruk

Question: What was the most urbanized city in the world at the time?


Answer: 50,000

Question: Over how many people lived in Uruk?


Answer: Enmebaragesi

Context: The earliest dynastic king on the Sumerian king list whose name is known from any other legendary source is Etana, 13th king of the first dynasty of Kish. The earliest king authenticated through archaeological evidence is Enmebaragesi of Kish (c. 26th century BC), whose name is also mentioned in the Gilgamesh epic—leading to the suggestion that Gilgamesh himself might have been a historical king of Uruk. As the Epic of Gilgamesh shows, this period was associated with increased war. Cities became walled, and increased in size as undefended villages in southern Mesopotamia disappeared. (Gilgamesh is credited with having built the walls of Uruk).

Question: Who is the earliest king that is authenticated by actual physical evidence and not just legend?


Answer: Kish

Question: What dynasty was Etana the 13th king of?


Answer: Etana

Question: What is the name of the earliest dynastic Sumerian king?


Answer: increased war

Question: What is the period of Enmebaragesi's reign associated with?


Answer: Gilgamesh epic

Question: Where is Enmebaragesi's name mentioned?


Answer: Umma

Context: Although short-lived, one of the first empires known to history was that of Eannatum of Lagash, who annexed practically all of Sumer, including Kish, Uruk, Ur, and Larsa, and reduced to tribute the city-state of Umma, arch-rival of Lagash. In addition, his realm extended to parts of Elam and along the Persian Gulf. He seems to have used terror as a matter of policy. Eannatum's Stele of the Vultures depicts vultures pecking at the severed heads and other body parts of his enemies. His empire collapsed shortly after his death.

Question: What city-state was the rival of Lagash?


Answer: practically all of Sumer

Question: What did Eannatum annex?


Answer: Eannatum of Lagash,

Question: What is one of the first empires known in history?


Answer: terror

Question: What did Eannatum use to keep the people of the time in line?


Answer: collapsed

Question: What happened to Eannatum's empire after his death?


Answer: proper names of the kings of Kish

Context: The Semitic Akkadian language is first attested in proper names of the kings of Kish c. 2800 BC, preserved in later king lists. There are texts written entirely in Old Akkadian dating from c. 2500 BC. Use of Old Akkadian was at its peak during the rule of Sargon the Great (c. 2270–2215 BC), but even then most administrative tablets continued to be written in Sumerian, the language used by the scribes. Gelb and Westenholz differentiate three stages of Old Akkadian: that of the pre-Sargonic era, that of the Akkadian empire, and that of the "Neo-Sumerian Renaissance" that followed it. Akkadian and Sumerian coexisted as vernacular languages for about one thousand years, but by around 1800 BC, Sumerian was becoming more of a literary language familiar mainly only to scholars and scribes. Thorkild Jacobsen has argued that there is little break in historical continuity between the pre- and post-Sargon periods, and that too much emphasis has been placed on the perception of a "Semitic vs. Sumerian" conflict. However, it is certain that Akkadian was also briefly imposed on neighboring parts of Elam that were previously conquered by Sargon.

Question: Where is the Semetic Akkadian language first found?


Answer: king lists

Question: Where is the Semetic Akkadian language found preserved after 2800 BC?


Answer: Sargon the Great

Question: During whose rule was the use of Old Akkadian at its peak?


Answer: Sumerian

Question: What language did scribes use over Akkadian?


Answer: about one thousand years

Question: How long did Akkadian and Sumerian coexist as spoken languages?


Answer: 3rd

Context: Later, the 3rd dynasty of Ur under Ur-Nammu and Shulgi, whose power extended as far as southern Assyria, was the last great "Sumerian renaissance", but already the region was becoming more Semitic than Sumerian, with the rise in power of the Akkadian speaking Semites in Assyria and elsewhere, and the influx of waves of Semitic Martu (Amorites) who were to found several competing local powers including Isin, Larsa, Eshnunna and eventually Babylon. The last of these eventually came to dominate the south of Mesopotamia as the Babylonian Empire, just as the Old Assyrian Empire had already done so in the north from the late 21st century BC. The Sumerian language continued as a sacerdotal language taught in schools in Babylonia and Assyria, much as Latin was used in the Medieval period, for as long as cuneiform was utilized.

Question: Which dynasty of Ur was the last great Sumerian renaissance?


Answer: Ur-Nammu and Shulgi

Question: Who guided Ur during the last gasp of power?


Answer: more Semitic than Sumerian

Question: Even during the 3rd dynasty, what was happening to the racial makeup of the region?


Answer: Amorites

Question: What was there an influx of waves of coming into Sumerian lands?


Answer: for as long as cuneiform was utilized.

Question: How long did the Babylonians and Assyrians continue to teach the Sumerian language in their schools?


Answer: compromised

Context: This period is generally taken to coincide with a major shift in population from southern Mesopotamia toward the north. Ecologically, the agricultural productivity of the Sumerian lands was being compromised as a result of rising salinity. Soil salinity in this region had been long recognized as a major problem. Poorly drained irrigated soils, in an arid climate with high levels of evaporation, led to the buildup of dissolved salts in the soil, eventually reducing agricultural yields severely. During the Akkadian and Ur III phases, there was a shift from the cultivation of wheat to the more salt-tolerant barley, but this was insufficient, and during the period from 2100 BC to 1700 BC, it is estimated that the population in this area declined by nearly three fifths. This greatly upset the balance of power within the region, weakening the areas where Sumerian was spoken, and comparatively strengthening those where Akkadian was the major language. Henceforth Sumerian would remain only a literary and liturgical language, similar to the position occupied by Latin in medieval Europe.

Question: What effect was rising salinity having on the agricultural productivity of the Sumerian lands?


Answer: Soil

Question: The salinity of what in the region was long recognized as a major problem?


Answer: dissolved salts

Question: Poorly drained irrigated soils in an arid climate with a good deal of evaporation is responsible for leaving what?


Answer: wheat

Question: What did cultivation shift from to salt-tolerant barley during the Ur III phase?


Answer: by nearly three fifths

Question: How much did the population of the region decline due to the decrease in crop productivity?


Answer: The Sumerians

Context: The Sumerians were a non-Semitic caucasoid people, and spoke a language isolate; a number of linguists believed they could detect a substrate language beneath Sumerian, because names of some of Sumer's major cities are not Sumerian, revealing influences of earlier inhabitants. However, the archaeological record shows clear uninterrupted cultural continuity from the time of the early Ubaid period (5300 – 4700 BC C-14) settlements in southern Mesopotamia. The Sumerian people who settled here farmed the lands in this region that were made fertile by silt deposited by the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers.

Question: Who were a non-Semitic caucasoid people?


Answer: earlier inhabitants

Question: What influences did the Sumerian language seem to retain?


Answer: uninterrupted cultural continuity

Question: What do archaeological records clearly show about the Sumerian culture?


Answer: early Ubaid period

Question: When were settlements started in southern Mesopotamia?


Answer: silt deposited by the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers

Question: Why were the lands in the region the Sumerian people settled fertile?


Answer: the north

Context: It is speculated by some archaeologists that Sumerian speakers were farmers who moved down from the north, after perfecting irrigation agriculture there. The Ubaid pottery of southern Mesopotamia has been connected via Choga Mami transitional ware to the pottery of the Samarra period culture (c. 5700 – 4900 BC C-14) in the north, who were the first to practice a primitive form of irrigation agriculture along the middle Tigris River and its tributaries. The connection is most clearly seen at Tell Awayli (Oueilli, Oueili) near Larsa, excavated by the French in the 1980s, where eight levels yielded pre-Ubaid pottery resembling Samarran ware. According to this theory, farming peoples spread down into southern Mesopotamia because they had developed a temple-centered social organization for mobilizing labor and technology for water control, enabling them to survive and prosper in a difficult environment.[citation needed]

Question: Where do some archaeologists speculate Sumerians originally moved from?


Answer: irrigation agriculture

Question: What had the Sumerians perfected before coming south?


Answer: the Samarra

Question: Who were the first to practice a primitive form of irrigation agriculture?


Answer: eight

Question: How many levels of pre-Ubaid pottery were excavated by the French in the 1980s?


Answer: labor

Question: What did the temple-centered social organization of the farming peoples allow them to mobilize?


Answer: law

Context: Though women were protected by late Sumerian law and were able to achieve a higher status in Sumer than in other contemporary civilizations, the culture was male-dominated. The Code of Ur-Nammu, the oldest such codification yet discovered, dating to the Ur-III "Sumerian Renaissance", reveals a glimpse at societal structure in late Sumerian law. Beneath the lu-gal ("great man" or king), all members of society belonged to one of two basic strata: The "lu" or free person, and the slave (male, arad; female geme). The son of a lu was called a dumu-nita until he married. A woman (munus) went from being a daughter (dumu-mi), to a wife (dam), then if she outlived her husband, a widow (numasu) and she could then remarry.

Question: How were women protected in Sumerian society?


Answer: male

Question: What gender dominated Sumerian culture?


Answer: Ur-Nammu

Question: Whose code reveals a bit about the societal structure through Sumerian law?


Answer: the lu-gal

Question: Who was at the top of the power pyramid in Sumerian society?


Answer: two

Question: How many strata existed in Sumerian society?


Answer: tablets written in cuneiform

Context: The most important archaeological discoveries in Sumer are a large number of tablets written in cuneiform. Sumerian writing, while proven to be not the oldest example of writing on earth, is considered to be a great milestone in the development of man's ability to not only create historical records but also in creating pieces of literature both in the form of poetic epics and stories as well as prayers and laws. Although pictures — that is, hieroglyphs — were first used, cuneiform and then Ideograms (where symbols were made to represent ideas) soon followed. Triangular or wedge-shaped reeds were used to write on moist clay. A large body of hundreds of thousands of texts in the Sumerian language have survived, such as personal or business letters, receipts, lexical lists, laws, hymns, prayers, stories, daily records, and even libraries full of clay tablets. Monumental inscriptions and texts on different objects like statues or bricks are also very common. Many texts survive in multiple copies because they were repeatedly transcribed by scribes-in-training. Sumerian continued to be the language of religion and law in Mesopotamia long after Semitic speakers had become dominant.

Question: What were the most important discoveries for archaeologists from Sumer?


Answer: milestone

Question: What is Sumerian writing considered to be in the development of man's ability to create literature?


Answer: Ideograms

Question: What followed cuneiform in writing?


Answer: hundreds of thousands

Question: How many texts in the Sumerian language have survived to modern day?


Answer: religion and law in Mesopotamia

Question: What was the Sumerian language used for long have their civilization had diminished?


Answer: Afroasiatic

Context: The Sumerian language is generally regarded as a language isolate in linguistics because it belongs to no known language family; Akkadian, by contrast, belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. There have been many failed attempts to connect Sumerian to other language groups. It is an agglutinative language; in other words, morphemes ("units of meaning") are added together to create words, unlike analytic languages where morphemes are purely added together to create sentences. Some authors have proposed that there may be evidence of a sub-stratum or add-stratum language for geographic features and various crafts and agricultural activities, called variously Proto-Euphratean or Proto Tigrean, but this is disputed by others.

Question: Akkadian's language can be traced to the Semitic branch of what languages?


Answer: belongs to no known language family

Question: Why is the Sumerian language usually thought of as a language isolate in linguistics?


Answer: words

Question: In Sumerian, what are morphemes added together to create?


Answer: failed

Question: What has been the result of attempts to connect Sumerian to other language groups?


Answer: "units of meaning"

Question: What are morphemes?


Answer: two

Context: Sumerian religion seems to have been founded upon two separate cosmogenic myths. The first saw creation as the result of a series of hieros gami or sacred marriages, involving the reconciliation of opposites, postulated as a coming together of male and female divine beings; the gods. This continued to influence the whole Mesopotamian mythos. Thus in the Enuma Elish the creation was seen as the union of fresh and salt water; as male Abzu, and female Tiamat. The product of that union, Lahm and Lahmu, "the muddy ones", were titles given to the gate keepers of the E-Abzu temple of Enki, in Eridu, the first Sumerian city. Describing the way that muddy islands emerge from the confluence of fresh and salty water at the mouth of the Euphrates, where the river deposited its load of silt, a second hieros gamos supposedly created Anshar and Kishar, the "sky-pivot" or axle, and the "earth pivot", parents in turn of Anu (the sky) and Ki (the earth). Another important Sumerian hieros gamos was that between Ki, here known as Ninhursag or "Lady Sacred Mountain", and Enki of Eridu, the god of fresh water which brought forth greenery and pasture.

Question: How many cosmogenic myths does the religion of the Sumerians appear to be founded upon?


Answer: a series of hieros gami

Question: What does one myth see creation as being the result of?


Answer: fresh and salt water

Question: In the Enuma Elish, what is creation seen as the union of?


Answer: the muddy ones

Question: What were the titles given to the gate keeps of the E-Abzu temple of Enki?


Answer: Ninhursag

Question: Who was the Lady Sacred Mountain?


Answer: a core pantheon

Context: These deities formed a core pantheon; there were additionally hundreds of minor ones. Sumerian gods could thus have associations with different cities, and their religious importance often waxed and waned with those cities' political power. The gods were said to have created human beings from clay for the purpose of serving them. The temples organized the mass labour projects needed for irrigation agriculture. Citizens had a labor duty to the temple, though they could avoid it by a payment of silver.

Question: What did the Sumerian deities form?


Answer: for the purpose of serving them

Question: Why did the gods create human beings from clay?


Answer: different cities

Question: What could Sumerian gods be associated with?


Answer: those cities' political power

Question: What did the religious importance of city gods wax and wan with?


Answer: a payment of silver

Question: How could a citizen avoid their labor duty to their local temple?


Answer: Ziggurats

Context: Ziggurats (Sumerian temples) each had an individual name and consisted of a forecourt, with a central pond for purification. The temple itself had a central nave with aisles along either side. Flanking the aisles would be rooms for the priests. At one end would stand the podium and a mudbrick table for animal and vegetable sacrifices. Granaries and storehouses were usually located near the temples. After a time the Sumerians began to place the temples on top of multi-layered square constructions built as a series of rising terraces, giving rise to the Ziggurat style.

Question: What were Sumerian temples known as?


Answer: purification

Question: What was the central pond in the forecourt of a Ziggurat for?


Answer: the priests

Question: Who were the rooms on either side of the aisles in the temple for?


Answer: animal and vegetable sacrifices

Question: What was the mudbrick table in the temple for?


Answer: near the temples

Question: Where did the Sumerians usually locate their granaries and storehouses?


Answer: confined to a gloomy world

Context: It was believed that when people died, they would be confined to a gloomy world of Ereshkigal, whose realm was guarded by gateways with various monsters designed to prevent people entering or leaving. The dead were buried outside the city walls in graveyards where a small mound covered the corpse, along with offerings to monsters and a small amount of food. Those who could afford it sought burial at Dilmun. Human sacrifice was found in the death pits at the Ur royal cemetery where Queen Puabi was accompanied in death by her servants. It is also said that the Sumerians invented the first oboe-like instrument, and used them at royal funerals.

Question: What type of afterlife could Sumerians look forward to?


Answer: outside the city walls in graveyards

Question: Where were dead Sumerians buried?


Answer: Ereshkigal

Question: What realm was guarded by gateways containing various monsters?


Answer: her servants

Question: Who was Queen Puabi accompanied in death by?


Answer: oboe-like

Question: What type of instrument are the Sumerians thought to have invented to use at royal funerals?


Answer: Uruk period

Context: In the early Sumerian Uruk period, the primitive pictograms suggest that sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs were domesticated. They used oxen as their primary beasts of burden and donkeys or equids as their primary transport animal and "woollen clothing as well as rugs were made from the wool or hair of the animals. ... By the side of the house was an enclosed garden planted with trees and other plants; wheat and probably other cereals were sown in the fields, and the shaduf was already employed for the purpose of irrigation. Plants were also grown in pots or vases."

Question: When do the pictograms suggest Sumerians had domesticated livestock?


Answer: enclosed garden planted with trees and other plants

Question: What might be found by the side of a Sumerian house?


Answer: donkeys

Question: What animal did Sumerians use primary to facilitate transportation?


Answer: beasts of burden

Question: What was the primary purpose of oxen for Sumerians?


Answer: pots or vases

Question: Where were plants also grown besides the garden?


Answer: beer

Context: The Sumerians were one of the first known beer drinking societies. Cereals were plentiful and were the key ingredient in their early brew. They brewed multiple kinds of beer consisting of wheat, barley, and mixed grain beers. Beer brewing was very important to the Sumerians. It was referenced in the Epic of Gilgamesh when Enkidu was introduced to the food and beer of Gilgamesh's people: "Drink the beer, as is the custom of the land... He drank the beer-seven jugs! and became expansive and sang with joy!"

Question: What was Sumerians one of the first societies known to consume?


Answer: Cereals

Question: What was the key ingredient in early Sumerian brews?


Answer: wheat, barley, and mixed grain

Question: What kinds of beer did the Sumerians brew?


Answer: very important

Question: How important was beer brewing to Sumerians?


Answer: expansive and sang with joy

Question: What did Enkidu become and do after consuming seven jugs of beer?


Answer: kill weeds

Context: As is known from the "Sumerian Farmer's Almanac", after the flood season and after the Spring Equinox and the Akitu or New Year Festival, using the canals, farmers would flood their fields and then drain the water. Next they made oxen stomp the ground and kill weeds. They then dragged the fields with pickaxes. After drying, they plowed, harrowed, and raked the ground three times, and pulverized it with a mattock, before planting seed. Unfortunately the high evaporation rate resulted in a gradual increase in the salinity of the fields. By the Ur III period, farmers had switched from wheat to the more salt-tolerant barley as their principal crop.

Question: Why did the Sumerian farmers make their oxen stomp the ground?


Answer: from the "Sumerian Farmer's Almanac"

Question: How do archaeologists know about Sumerian agricultural practices?


Answer: three times

Question: How many times did Sumerian farmers plow, harrow and rake the ground?


Answer: after the Spring Equinox and the Akitu

Question: When would farmers flood their fields?


Answer: salt-tolerant barley

Question: The the Ur III period, what crop had Sumerians switched to from wheat for their primary crop?


Answer: was scarce

Context: According to Archibald Sayce, the primitive pictograms of the early Sumerian (i.e. Uruk) era suggest that "Stone was scarce, but was already cut into blocks and seals. Brick was the ordinary building material, and with it cities, forts, temples and houses were constructed. The city was provided with towers and stood on an artificial platform; the house also had a tower-like appearance. It was provided with a door which turned on a hinge, and could be opened with a sort of key; the city gate was on a larger scale, and seems to have been double. The foundation stones — or rather bricks — of a house were consecrated by certain objects that were deposited under them."

Question: What does Archibald Sayce think early Sumerian pictograms suggest about the availability of stone?


Answer: into blocks and seals

Question: How did the Sumerians fashion the stone they cut?


Answer: Brick

Question: What was the ordinary building material of Sumerians?


Answer: objects that were deposited under them

Question: What were the foundation stones of Sumerian houses consecrated by?


Answer: tower-like

Question: What kind of appearance did Sumerian houses have?


Answer: the ziggurats

Context: The most impressive and famous of Sumerian buildings are the ziggurats, large layered platforms which supported temples. Sumerian cylinder seals also depict houses built from reeds not unlike those built by the Marsh Arabs of Southern Iraq until as recently as 400 CE. The Sumerians also developed the arch, which enabled them to develop a strong type of dome. They built this by constructing and linking several arches. Sumerian temples and palaces made use of more advanced materials and techniques,[citation needed] such as buttresses, recesses, half columns, and clay nails.

Question: What is the most impressive and famous style of Sumerian buildings?


Answer: 400 CE

Question: Sumerians also built houses from reeds not very different from ones built by inhabitants in Iraq as recently as when?


Answer: by constructing and linking several arches

Question: How did the Sumerians build their strong domes?


Answer: the arch

Question: What development by the Sumerians allowed them to make use of domes?


Answer: Sumerian temples and palaces

Question: Where were the use of advanced materials and techniques on display in Sumer?


Answer: metrology

Context: The Sumerians developed a complex system of metrology c. 4000 BC. This advanced metrology resulted in the creation of arithmetic, geometry, and algebra. From c. 2600 BC onwards, the Sumerians wrote multiplication tables on clay tablets and dealt with geometrical exercises and division problems. The earliest traces of the Babylonian numerals also date back to this period. The period c. 2700 – 2300 BC saw the first appearance of the abacus, and a table of successive columns which delimited the successive orders of magnitude of their sexagesimal number system. The Sumerians were the first to use a place value numeral system. There is also anecdotal evidence the Sumerians may have used a type of slide rule in astronomical calculations. They were the first to find the area of a triangle and the volume of a cube.

Question: What did the Sumerians a complex system of around 4000 BC?


Answer: arithmetic, geometry, and algebra

Question: From the Sumerian metrology sprang forth the creation of what disciplines?


Answer: on clay tablets

Question: Where did the Sumerians put their multiplication tables?


Answer: 2700 – 2300 BC

Question: When was the abacus first seen between?


Answer: use a place value numeral system

Question: What were the Sumerians the first to do when it came to mathematics?


Answer: Commercial credit and agricultural consumer

Context: Commercial credit and agricultural consumer loans were the main types of loans. The trade credit was usually extended by temples in order to finance trade expeditions and was nominated in silver. The interest rate was set at 1/60 a month (one shekel per mina) some time before 2000 BC and it remained at that level for about two thousand years. Rural loans commonly arose as a result of unpaid obligations due to an institution (such as a temple), in this case the arrears were considered to be lent to the debtor. They were denominated in barley or other crops and the interest rate was typically much higher than for commercial loans and could amount to 1/3 to 1/2 of the loan principal.

Question: What were the main types of loans in Sumerian society?


Answer: one

Question: How man shekel per mina was the interest rate for loans?


Answer: silver

Question: What was trade credit backed by when extended by temples?


Answer: about two thousand years

Question: For how long was the interest rate of Sumerian loans consistent?


Answer: Rural loans

Question: What typically arose as a result of unpaid obligations?


Answer: rural

Context: Periodically "clean slate" decrees were signed by rulers which cancelled all the rural (but not commercial) debt and allowed bondservants to return to their homes. Customarily rulers did it at the beginning of the first full year of their reign, but they could also be proclaimed at times of military conflict or crop failure. The first known ones were made by Enmetena and Urukagina of Lagash in 2400-2350 BC. According to Hudson, the purpose of these decrees was to prevent debts mounting to a degree that they threatened fighting force which could happen if peasants lost the subsistence land or became bondservants due to the inability to repay the debt.

Question: What type of debt did "clean slate" decrees cancel?


Answer: the first full year of their reign

Question: When did rulers typically proclaim "clean slate" decrees?


Answer: to prevent debts mounting to a degree that they threatened fighting force

Question: Why were the clean slate decrees useful to the rulers of Sumer?


Answer: lost the subsistence land or became bondservants

Question: What would happen if peasants couldn't repay their debts?


Answer: Enmetena and Urukagina

Question: Who made the first known clean slate decrees?


Answer: almost constant wars

Context: The almost constant wars among the Sumerian city-states for 2000 years helped to develop the military technology and techniques of Sumer to a high level. The first war recorded in any detail was between Lagash and Umma in c. 2525 BC on a stele called the Stele of the Vultures. It shows the king of Lagash leading a Sumerian army consisting mostly of infantry. The infantrymen carried spears, wore copper helmets, and carried rectangular shields. The spearmen are shown arranged in what resembles the phalanx formation, which requires training and discipline; this implies that the Sumerians may have made use of professional soldiers.

Question: What contributed to developing military technology for Sumer?


Answer: 2000 years

Question: How many years were the Sumerian city-states at war?


Answer: Lagash and Umma

Question: Who was the first war between in 2525 BC?


Answer: infantry

Question: What did the king of Lagash's army mostly consist of?


Answer: rectangular

Question: What shape were the shields of the infantry of Lagash?


Answer: mid 4th millennium BC

Context: Evidence of wheeled vehicles appeared in the mid 4th millennium BC, near-simultaneously in Mesopotamia, the Northern Caucasus (Maykop culture) and Central Europe. The wheel initially took the form of the potter's wheel. The new concept quickly led to wheeled vehicles and mill wheels. The Sumerians' cuneiform writing system is the oldest (or second oldest after the Egyptian hieroglyphs) which has been deciphered (the status of even older inscriptions such as the Jiahu symbols and Tartaria tablets is controversial). The Sumerians were among the first astronomers, mapping the stars into sets of constellations, many of which survived in the zodiac and were also recognized by the ancient Greeks. They were also aware of the five planets that are easily visible to the naked eye.

Question: When did evidence of wheeled vehicles appear throughout the world?


Answer: potter's wheel

Question: What form did wheels initially take?


Answer: been deciphered

Question: The writing system of the Sumerian's is the second oldest to have what done to it?


Answer: sets of constellations

Question: What did the Sumerians map stars into?


Answer: five

Question: How many planets were the Sumerians aware of?


Answer: base 10 and base 6

Context: They invented and developed arithmetic by using several different number systems including a mixed radix system with an alternating base 10 and base 6. This sexagesimal system became the standard number system in Sumer and Babylonia. They may have invented military formations and introduced the basic divisions between infantry, cavalry, and archers. They developed the first known codified legal and administrative systems, complete with courts, jails, and government records. The first true city-states arose in Sumer, roughly contemporaneously with similar entities in what are now Syria and Lebanon. Several centuries after the invention of cuneiform, the use of writing expanded beyond debt/payment certificates and inventory lists to be applied for the first time, about 2600 BC, to messages and mail delivery, history, legend, mathematics, astronomical records, and other pursuits. Conjointly with the spread of writing, the first formal schools were established, usually under the auspices of a city-state's primary temple.

Question: Sumerians used number systems which included what alternating bases?


Answer: sexagesimal

Question: What type of number system was standard in Sumer and Babylonia?


Answer: military

Question: What type of formations is it possible Sumerians invented?


Answer: legal and administrative

Question: What systems did the Sumerians develop which remain the first known these types to this day?


Answer: a city-state's primary temple

Question: In Sumerian society, who oversaw the operation of the first formal schools?


Answer: Ellice Islands

Context: Tuvalu (i/tuːˈvɑːluː/ too-VAH-loo or /ˈtuːvəluː/ TOO-və-loo), formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. It comprises three reef islands and six true atolls spread out between the latitude of 5° to 10° south and longitude of 176° to 180°, west of the International Date Line. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. Tuvalu has a population of 10,640 (2012 census). The total land area of the islands of Tuvalu is 26 square kilometres (10 sq mi).

Question: What is the previous name of Tuvalu?


Answer: Pacific Ocean

Question: In which ocean is Tuvalu found?


Answer: Hawaii and Australia

Question: Between what land areas is Tuvalu located?


Answer: 10,640

Question: According the the 2012 census, how many people live on the Tuvalu islands?


Answer: reef

Question: What originally formed the Tuvalu islands?


Answer: 1568

Context: In 1568, Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña was the first European to sail through the archipelago, sighting the island of Nui during his expedition in search of Terra Australis. In 1819 the island of Funafuti was named Ellice's Island; the name Ellice was applied to all nine islands after the work of English hydrographer Alexander George Findlay. The islands came under Britain's sphere of influence in the late 19th century, when each of the Ellice Islands was declared a British Protectorate by Captain Gibson of HMS Curacoa between 9 and 16 October 1892. The Ellice Islands were administered as British protectorate by a Resident Commissioner from 1892 to 1916 as part of the British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT), and then as part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony from 1916 to 1974.

Question: In what year was Tuvalu discovered by a European?


Answer: Álvaro de Mendaña

Question: Who was the discoverer of Tuvalu?


Answer: Terra Australis

Question: What land mass was de Mendana actually seeking?


Answer: Ellice Islands

Question: What was Tuvalu named in 1819?


Answer: British protectorate

Question: By what means did the British govern Tuvalu?


Answer: 3000 years

Context: The origins of the people of Tuvalu are addressed in the theories regarding migration into the Pacific that began about 3000 years ago. During pre-European-contact times there was frequent canoe voyaging between the nearer islands including Samoa and Tonga. Eight of the nine islands of Tuvalu were inhabited; thus the name, Tuvalu, means "eight standing together" in Tuvaluan (compare to *walo meaning "eight" in Proto-Austronesian). Possible evidence of fire in the Caves of Nanumanga may indicate human occupation for thousands of years.

Question: How many years ago did migrations of people happen in the Pacific area?


Answer: canoe

Question: By what means did locale people travel between Pacific islands?


Answer: nine islands

Question: How many islands are in the Tuvalu group?


Answer: Eight

Question: On how many of Tuvalu's islands did people live?


Answer: eight standing together

Question: What is the native language meaning of Tuvalu?


Answer: te Pusi mo te Ali

Context: An important creation myth of the islands of Tuvalu is the story of the te Pusi mo te Ali (the Eel and the Flounder) who created the islands of Tuvalu; te Ali (the flounder) is believed to be the origin of the flat atolls of Tuvalu and the te Pusin (the Eel) is the model for the coconut palms that are important in the lives of Tuvaluans. The stories as to the ancestors of the Tuvaluans vary from island to island. On Niutao, Funafuti and Vaitupu the founding ancestor is described as being from Samoa; whereas on Nanumea the founding ancestor is described as being from Tonga.

Question: What is the creation myth of Tuvalu?


Answer: flat atolls

Question: What does the flounder of the Tuvalu myth represent?


Answer: coconut palms

Question: What does the eel of the Tuvalu creation myth represent?


Answer: Samoa

Question: From what land did the people of Niutao believe they came?


Answer: Tonga

Question: From where did the people of the island of Nanumea think they came?


Answer: Captain John Byron

Context: Captain John Byron passed through the islands of Tuvalu in 1764 during his circumnavigation of the globe as captain of the Dolphin (1751). Byron charted the atolls as Lagoon Islands. Keith S. Chambers and Doug Munro (1980) identified Niutao as the island that Francisco Mourelle de la Rúa sailed past on 5 May 1781, thus solving what Europeans had called The Mystery of Gran Cocal. Mourelle's map and journal named the island El Gran Cocal ('The Great Coconut Plantation'); however, the latitude and longitude was uncertain. Longitude could only be reckoned crudely as accurate chronometers were unavailable until the late 18th century.

Question: What explorer traveled through the Tuvalu islands in 1764?


Answer: circumnavigation of the globe

Question: What was Captain Byron doing when he visited Tuvalu?


Answer: Niutao

Question: Which island of Tuvalu was identified as the one that Mourelle sailed past in 1781?


Answer: Lagoon Islands

Question: How did Byron name the Tuvalu islands?


Answer: late 18th

Question: When were chronometers available for accurate location charting?


Answer: May 1819

Context: The next European to visit was Arent Schuyler de Peyster, of New York, captain of the armed brigantine or privateer Rebecca, sailing under British colours, which passed through the southern Tuvaluan waters in May 1819; de Peyster sighted Nukufetau and Funafuti, which he named Ellice's Island after an English Politician, Edward Ellice, the Member of Parliament for Coventry and the owner of the Rebecca's cargo. The name Ellice was applied to all nine islands after the work of English hydrographer Alexander George Findlay.

Question: When did Arent Schuyler de Peyster visit Tuvalu?


Answer: Nukufetau and Funafuti

Question: Which of the Tuvalu isalnds did de Peyster see?


Answer: Ellice's Island

Question: What name did de Peyster give the Tuvalu islands?


Answer: Edward Ellice

Question: For whom did de Peyster name Ellice's Island?


Answer: all nine islands

Question: After Findlay's charting how many islands of the group were named Ellice?


Answer: 1862–63

Context: For less than a year between 1862–63, Peruvian ships, engaged in what became to be called the "blackbirding" trade, combed the smaller islands of Polynesia from Easter Island in the eastern Pacific to Tuvalu and the southern atolls of the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati), seeking recruits to fill the extreme labour shortage in Peru. While some islanders were voluntary recruits the "blackbirders" were notorious for enticing islanders on to ships with tricks, such as pretending to be Christian missionaries, as well as kidnapping islanders at gun point. The Rev. A. W. Murray, the earliest European missionary in Tuvalu, reported that in 1863 about 170 people were taken from Funafuti and about 250 were taken from Nukulaelae, as there were fewer than 100 of the 300 recorded in 1861 as living on Nukulaelae.

Question: In what years did Peruvian ships seek laborers in the Polynesian islands?


Answer: blackbirding

Question: What was the name applied to the trade of dealing with labor hunters?


Answer: Rev. A. W. Murray

Question: Who was the earliest missionary to Tuvalu?


Answer: tricks

Question: By what means did Blackbirders often get islanders aboard their ships?


Answer: 1863

Question: When did Murray report people missing because of Blackbirders?


Answer: 1861

Context: Christianity came to Tuvalu in 1861 when Elekana, a deacon of a Congregational church in Manihiki, Cook Islands became caught in a storm and drifted for 8 weeks before landing at Nukulaelae on 10 May 1861. Elekana began proselytising Christianity. He was trained at Malua Theological College, a London Missionary Society (LMS) school in Samoa, before beginning his work in establishing the Church of Tuvalu. In 1865 the Rev. A. W. Murray of the LMS – a Protestant congregationalist missionary society – arrived as the first European missionary where he too proselytised among the inhabitants of Tuvalu. By 1878 Protestantism was well established with preachers on each island. In the later 19th and early 20th centuries the ministers of what became the Church of Tuvalu (Te Ekalesia Kelisiano Tuvalu) were predominantly Samoans, who influenced the development of the Tuvaluan language and the music of Tuvalu.

Question: When did Christianity arrive in Tuvalu?


Answer: Elekana

Question: What church deacon was washed ashore on Nukulaelae?


Answer: Rev. A. W. Murray

Question: What missionary was the first European missionary to come to Tuvalu?


Answer: Samoans

Question: Of what nationality were most of the ministers of the Church of Tuvalu?


Answer: mid-19th

Context: Trading companies became active in Tuvalu in the mid-19th century; the trading companies engaged palagi traders who lived on the islands. John (also known as Jack) O'Brien was the first European to settle in Tuvalu, he became a trader on Funafuti in the 1850s. He married Salai, the daughter of the paramount chief of Funafuti. Louis Becke, who later found success as a writer, was a trader on Nanumanga from April 1880 until the trading-station was destroyed later that year in a cyclone. He then became a trader on Nukufetau.

Question: In what century did trading companies arrive in Tuvalu?


Answer: palagi traders

Question: What type of traders did the trading companies employ on Tuvalu?


Answer: John (also known as Jack) O'Brien

Question: Who was the first European to permanently settle on Tuvalu?


Answer: Salai

Question: Which native did O'Brien marry?


Answer: Louis Becke

Question: What trader turned author established a post on Tuvalu?


Answer: Captain Davis

Context: In 1892 Captain Davis of the HMS Royalist reported on trading activities and traders on each of the islands visited. Captain Davis identified the following traders in the Ellice Group: Edmund Duffy (Nanumea); Jack Buckland (Niutao); Harry Nitz (Vaitupu); John (also known as Jack) O'Brien (Funafuti); Alfred Restieaux and Emile Fenisot (Nukufetau); and Martin Kleis (Nui). During this time, the greatest number of palagi traders lived on the atolls, acting as agents for the trading companies. Some islands would have competing traders while dryer islands might only have a single trader.

Question: What sea captain reported on the Tuvalu trading in 1892?


Answer: HMS Royalist

Question: What was the name of Davis's ship?


Answer: agents

Question: What did palagi traders act as for the trading companies?


Answer: competing

Question: How many traders did some islands have?


Answer: dryer

Question: What type of islands in the Tuvalu group have few traders?


Answer: structural changes

Context: In the later 1890s and into first decade of the 20th century, structural changes occurred in the operation of the Pacific trading companies; they moved from a practice of having traders resident on each island to instead becoming a business operation where the supercargo (the cargo manager of a trading ship) would deal directly with the islanders when a ship visited an island. From 1900 the numbers of palagi traders in Tuvalu declined and the last of the palagi traders were Fred Whibley on Niutao, Alfred Restieaux on Nukufetau, and Martin Kleis on Nui. By 1909 there were no more resident palagi traders representing the trading companies, although both Whibley and Restieaux remained in the islands until their deaths.

Question: What operational changes caused a decline in the numbers of palagi traders in Tuvalu?


Answer: resident

Question: What type of traders did the Pacific trading companies cease to use?


Answer: deal directly

Question: How did the trading companies begin to trade with islanders?


Answer: 1909

Question: By what year were there no more palagi traders on Tuvalu?


Answer: supercargo

Question: What is the term for a ship's cargo manager?


Answer: 1890

Context: In 1890 Robert Louis Stevenson, his wife Fanny Vandegrift Stevenson and her son Lloyd Osbourne sailed on the Janet Nicoll, a trading steamer owned by Henderson and Macfarlane of Auckland, New Zealand, which operated between Sydney and Auckland and into the central Pacific. The Janet Nicoll visited three of the Ellice Islands; while Fanny records that they made landfall at Funafuti, Niutao and Nanumea, Jane Resture suggests that it was more likely they landed at Nukufetau rather than Funafuti. An account of this voyage was written by Fanny Stevenson and published under the title The Cruise of the Janet Nichol, together with photographs taken by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne.

Question: When did Robert Louis Stevenson sail on the ship Janet Nicoll?


Answer: Fanny Vandegrift Stevenson

Question: Who recorded the trip aboard the Janet Nicoll?


Answer: trading steamer

Question: What type of ship was the Janet Nicoll?


Answer: Robert Louis Stevenson

Question: What writer visited the Tuvalu Islands in 1890?


Answer: The Cruise of the Janet Nichol

Question: What was the title of the travel book written by Fanny Vandegrift Stevenson?


Answer: Darwin's Drill

Context: The boreholes on Funafuti, at the site now called Darwin's Drill, are the result of drilling conducted by the Royal Society of London for the purpose of investigating the formation of coral reefs to determine whether traces of shallow water organisms could be found at depth in the coral of Pacific atolls. This investigation followed the work on The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs conducted by Charles Darwin in the Pacific. Drilling occurred in 1896, 1897 and 1898. Professor Edgeworth David of the University of Sydney was a member of the 1896 "Funafuti Coral Reef Boring Expedition of the Royal Society", under Professor William Sollas and lead the expedition in 1897. Photographers on these trips recorded people, communities, and scenes at Funafuti.

Question: What are the boreholes on Funafuti called?


Answer: Royal Society of London

Question: What group conducted a study of coral on Funafuti?


Answer: coral reefs

Question: What formations was the Royal Society studying?


Answer: Charles Darwin

Question: Who's basic work in the area of coral reefs did the Royal Society's investigations follow?


Answer: The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs

Question: What was Darwin's work on coral reefs titled?


Answer: Charles Hedley

Context: Charles Hedley, a naturalist at the Australian Museum, accompanied the 1896 expedition and during his stay on Funafuti collected invertebrate and ethnological objects. The descriptions of these were published in Memoir III of the Australian Museum Sydney between 1896 and 1900. Hedley also wrote the General Account of the Atoll of Funafuti, The Ethnology of Funafuti, and The Mollusca of Funafuti. Edgar Waite was also part of the 1896 expedition and published an account of The mammals, reptiles, and fishes of Funafuti. William Rainbow described the spiders and insects collected at Funafuti in The insect fauna of Funafuti.

Question: What naturalist was on the 1896 expedition to Funafuti?


Answer: invertebrate and ethnological

Question: What type of objects did Hedley collect on Funafuti


Answer: a base

Context: During the Pacific War Funafuti was used as a base to prepare for the subsequent seaborn attacks on the Gilbert Islands (Kiribati) that were occupied by Japanese forces. The United States Marine Corps landed on Funafuti on 2 October 1942 and on Nanumea and Nukufetau in August 1943. The Japanese had already occupied Tarawa and other islands in what is now Kiribati, but were delayed by the losses at the Battle of the Coral Sea. The islanders assisted the American forces to build airfields on Funafuti, Nanumea and Nukufetau and to unload supplies from ships. On Funafuti the islanders shifted to the smaller islets so as to allow the American forces to build the airfield and to build naval bases and port facilities on Fongafale. A Naval Construction Battalion (Seabees) built a sea plane ramp on the lagoon side of Fongafale islet for seaplane operations by both short and long range seaplanes and a compacted coral runway was also constructed on Fongafale, with runways also constructed to create Nanumea Airfield and Nukufetau Airfield. USN Patrol Torpedo Boats (PTs) were based at Funafuti from 2 November 1942 to 11 May 1944.

Question: For what purpose was Funafuti used during the Pacific War?


Answer: Japanese forces

Question: What group occupied the Gilbert Islands?


Answer: Battle of the Coral Sea

Question: What action delayed the Japanese occupation of the Gilbert Islands?


Answer: 2 November 1942 to 11 May 1944

Question: From what time span were USN Torpedo Boats stationed at Funafuti?


Answer: Fongafale

Question: On what islet did US forces build a seaplane ramp?


Answer: 1974

Context: In 1974 ministerial government was introduced to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony through a change to the Constitution. In that year a general election was held; and a referendum was held in December 1974 to determine whether the Gilbert Islands and Ellice Islands should each have their own administration. As a consequence of the referendum, separation occurred in two stages. The Tuvaluan Order 1975, which took effect on 1 October 1975, recognised Tuvalu as a separate British dependency with its own government. The second stage occurred on 1 January 1976 when separate administrations were created out of the civil service of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony.

Question: In what year was ministerial government started in the Gilbert and Ellice islands?


Answer: December 1974

Question: When was a referendum held to determine the government of Ellice?


Answer: Constitution

Question: What document was changed to cause a change in government?


Answer: separation

Question: What was the determination of the referendum?


Answer: British dependency

Question: What did the Tuvaluan Order 1976 recognize Tuvalu to be?


Answer: October 1978

Context: From 1974 (the creation of the British colony of Tuvalu) until independence, the legislative body of Tuvalu 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. The unicameral Parliament has 15 members with elections held every four years. The members of parliament select the Prime Minister (who is the head of government) and the Speaker of Parliament. The ministers that form the Cabinet are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister.

Question: When did Tuvalu acquire independence?


Answer: British colony of Tuvalu

Question: What was formed in 1974?


Answer: Parliament of Tuvalu

Question: After independence, what was the Assembly on Tuvalu named?


Answer: unicameral

Question: What type of parliament does Tuvalu have?


Answer: members of parliament

Question: In Tuvalu government, what group elect the Prime Minster?


Answer: eight

Context: There are eight Island Courts and Lands Courts; appeals in relation to land disputes are made to the Lands Courts Appeal Panel. Appeals from the Island Courts and the Lands Courts Appeal Panel are made to the Magistrates Court, which has jurisdiction to hear civil cases involving up to $T10,000. The superior court is the High Court of Tuvalu as it has unlimited original jurisdiction to determine the Law of Tuvalu and to hear appeals from the lower courts. Sir Gordon Ward is the current Chief Justice of Tuvalu. Rulings of the High Court can be appealed to the Court of Appeal of Tuvalu. From the Court of Appeal there is a right of appeal to Her Majesty in Council, i.e., the Privy Council in London.

Question: How many courts are there on Tuvalu?


Answer: High Court of Tuvalu

Question: What is the name of the superior court of Tuvalu?


Answer: Law of Tuvalu

Question: What is the High Court's right to determine?


Answer: Sir Gordon Ward

Question: What judge is the Chief Justice of the Tuvalu High Court?


Answer: Court of Appeal of Tuvalu

Question: To where can judgments be appealed?


Answer: Secretariat of the Pacific Community

Context: Tuvalu participates in the work of Secretariat of the Pacific Community, or SPC (sometimes Pacific Community) and is a member of the Pacific Islands Forum, the Commonwealth of Nations and the United Nations. Tuvalu has maintained a mission at the United Nations in New York City since 2000. Tuvalu is a member of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. On 18 February 2016 Tuvalu signed the Pacific Islands Development Forum Charter and formally joined the Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF).

Question: In what group is Tuvalu involved?


Answer: Pacific Islands Forum

Question: In which forum group is Tuvalu a member?


Answer: Commonwealth of Nations

Question: In which British group is Tuvalu a member?


Answer: United Nations

Question: To what world organization does Tuvalu belong?


Answer: 18 February 2016

Question: On what date did Tuvalu join the Pacific Islands Development Forum?


Answer: global warming

Context: A major international priority for Tuvalu in the UN, at the 2002 Earth Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa and in other international fora, is promoting concern about global warming and the possible sea level rising. Tuvalu advocates ratification and implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. In December 2009 the islands stalled talks on climate change at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, fearing some other developing countries were not committing fully to binding deals on a reduction in carbon emissions. Their chief negotiator stated, "Tuvalu is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change and our future rests on the outcome of this meeting."

Question: What crisis is a major concern for Tuvalu at the UN?


Answer: sea level rising

Question: In concert with global warming, what is Tuvalu's other envirnmental priority?


Answer: Kyoto Protocol

Question: What agreement does Tuvalu advocate ratification?


Answer: binding deals

Question: What did Tuvalu call for from other nations concerning reduction of carbon emissions?


Answer: vulnerable

Question: What does Tuvalu feel its position to be in climate change?


Answer: Alliance of Small Island States

Context: Tuvalu participates in the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), which is a coalition of small island and low-lying coastal countries that have concerns about their vulnerability to the adverse effects of global climate change. Under the Majuro Declaration, which was signed on 5 September 2013, Tuvalu has commitment to implement power generation of 100% renewable energy (between 2013 and 2020), which is proposed to be implemented using Solar PV (95% of demand) and biodiesel (5% of demand). The feasibility of wind power generation will be considered. Tuvalu participates in the operations of the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

Question: Of what alliance is Tuvalu a member?


Answer: climate change

Question: What is the AOSIS'S main concern?


Answer: Majuro Declaration

Question: To what agreement has Tuvalu committed?


Answer: 100% renewable

Question: What type of energy does the Majuro Declaration advocate?


Answer: Solar PV

Question: By what means does Tuvalu plan to produce 95% of its energy?


Answer: Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency

Context: Tuvalu participates in the operations of the Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). The Tuvaluan government, the US government, and the governments of other Pacific islands, are parties to the South Pacific Tuna Treaty (SPTT), which entered into force in 1988. Tuvalu is also a member of the Nauru Agreement which addresses the management of tuna purse seine fishing in the tropical western Pacific. In May 2013 representatives from the United States and the Pacific Islands countries agreed to sign interim arrangement documents to extend the Multilateral Fisheries Treaty (which encompasses the South Pacific Tuna Treaty) to confirm access to the fisheries in the Western and Central Pacific for US tuna boats for 18 months. Tuvalu and the other members of the Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and the United States have settled a tuna fishing deal for 2015; a longer term deal will be negotiated. The treaty is an extension of the Nauru Agreement and provides for US flagged purse seine vessels to fish 8,300 days in the region in return for a payment of US$90 million made up by tuna fishing industry and US-Government contributions. In 2015 Tuvalu has refused to sell fishing days to certain nations and fleets that have blocked Tuvaluan initiatives to develop and sustain their own fishery.

Question: In what fishery group does Tuvalu participate?


Answer: South Pacific Tuna Treaty

Question: Of what fishery treaty is Tuvalu a signatory?


Answer: tuna purse seine fishing

Question: What is the focus of the Nauru Agreement?


Answer: Multilateral Fisheries Treaty

Question: Of what did Tuvalu agree to the extension ?


Answer: fishing days

Question: What did Tuvalu refuse to sell in 2015?


Answer: Memorandum of Understanding

Context: In July 2013 Tuvalu signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish the Pacific Regional Trade and Development Facility, which Facility originated in 2006, in the context of negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Pacific ACP States and the European Union. The rationale for the creation of the Facility being to improve the delivery of aid to Pacific island countries in support of the Aid-for-Trade (AfT) requirements. The Pacific ACP States are the countries in the Pacific that are signatories to the Cotonou Agreement with the European Union.

Question: What trade agreement did Tuvalu sign in 2013?


Answer: Pacific Regional Trade

Question: What does the Memorandum concern?


Answer: Economic Partnership Agreement

Question: What does the trade agreement encompass?


Answer: European Union

Question: With what group does the agreement form an alliance?


Answer: Pacific island countries

Question: To whom does the Facility seek to deliver aid?


Answer: ulu-aliki

Context: Each island has its own high-chief, or ulu-aliki, and several sub-chiefs (alikis). The community council is the Falekaupule (the traditional assembly of elders) or te sina o fenua (literally: "grey-hairs of the land"). In the past, another caste, the priests (tofuga), were also amongst the decision-makers. The ulu-aliki and aliki exercise informal authority at the local level. Ulu-aliki are always chosen based on ancestry. Under the Falekaupule Act (1997), the powers and functions of the Falekaupule are now shared with the pule o kaupule (elected village presidents; one on each atoll).

Question: What is the Tuvalu high chief on each island called?


Answer: alikis

Question: What is the name of the sub-chiefs in Tuvalu?


Answer: Falekaupule

Question: What is the Tuvaluan traditional assembly of elders?


Answer: tofuga

Question: What was the caste of priests in the past on Tuvalu?


Answer: pule o kaupule

Question: With what group do the falekaupule share power on Tuvalu?


Answer: climate change refugees

Context: In 2014 attention was drawn to an appeal to the New Zealand Immigration and Protection Tribunal against the deportation of a Tuvaluan family on the basis that they were "climate change refugees", who would suffer hardship resulting from the environmental degradation of Tuvalu. However the subsequent grant of residence permits to the family was made on grounds unrelated to the refugee claim. The family was successful in their appeal because, under the relevant immigration legislation, there were "exceptional circumstances of a humanitarian nature" that justified the grant of resident permits as the family was integrated into New Zealand society with a sizeable extended family which had effectively relocated to New Zealand. Indeed, in 2013 a claim of a Kiribati man of being a "climate change refugee" under the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) was determined by the New Zealand High Court to be untenable as there was no persecution or serious harm related to any of the five stipulated Refugee Convention grounds. Permanent migration to Australia and New Zealand, such as for family reunification, requires compliance with the immigration legislation of those countries.

Question: What was the argument against the deportation of a Tuvaluan family from new Zealand?


Answer: humanitarian nature

Question: By what reason was the Tuvaluan family allowed to immigrate?


Answer: New Zealand High Court

Question: What court ruled the claim of climate change refugee to be untenable?


Answer: persecution or serious harm

Question: What feature was missing in the climate change claims?


Answer: Refugee Convention

Question: What document draws out the requirements of refugee status?


Answer: 75

Context: New Zealand has an annual quota of 75 Tuvaluans granted work permits under the Pacific Access Category, as announced in 2001. The applicants register for the Pacific Access Category (PAC) ballots; the primary criteria is that the principal applicant must have a job offer from a New Zealand employer. Tuvaluans also have access to seasonal employment in the horticulture and viticulture industries in New Zealand under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Work Policy introduced in 2007 allowing for employment of up to 5,000 workers from Tuvalu and other Pacific islands. Tuvaluans can participate in the Australian Pacific Seasonal Worker Program, which allows Pacific Islanders to obtain seasonal employment in the Australian agriculture industry, in particular cotton and cane operations; fishing industry, in particular aquaculture; and with accommodation providers in the tourism industry.

Question: What is New Zealand's annual quota of Tuvaluan granted work permits?


Answer: job offer

Question: What must a Tuvaluan have to be considered for a work permit in New Zealand?


Answer: 5,000

Question: How many Pacific islander seasonal workers are permitted?


Answer: Australian Pacific Seasonal Worker Program

Question: What is the program that allows season employees work permits?


Answer: Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Work Policy

Question: What program was introduced in 2007 for season workers in New Zealand?


Answer: Tuvaluan

Context: The Tuvaluan language and English are the national languages of Tuvalu. Tuvaluan is of the Ellicean group of Polynesian languages, distantly related to all other Polynesian languages such as Hawaiian, Māori, Tahitian, Samoan and Tongan. It is most closely related to the languages spoken on the Polynesian outliers in Micronesia and northern and central Melanesia. The language has borrowed from the Samoan language, as a consequence of Christian missionaries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries being predominantly Samoan.

Question: Besides English, what is the national language of Tuvalu?


Answer: Ellicean group

Question: What is the language group of the Tuvaluan language?


Answer: Polynesian

Question: What other languages is the Tuvaluan language related?


Answer: Micronesia

Question: To what area's language is Tuvaluan closely related?


Answer: Samoan

Question: From what language does Tuvaluan borrow many linguistic traits?


Answer: Princess Margaret Hospital

Context: The Princess Margaret Hospital on Funafuti is the only hospital in Tuvalu. The Tuvaluan medical staff at PMH in 2011 comprised the Director of Health & Surgeon, the Chief Medical Officer Public Health, an anaesthetist, a paediatric medical officer and an obstetrics and gynaecology medical officer. Allied health staff include two radiographers, two pharmacists, three laboratory technicians, two dieticians and 13 nurses with specialised training in fields including surgical nursing, anaesthesia nursing/ICU, paediatric nursing and midwifery. PMH also employs a dentist. The Department of Health also employs nine or ten nurses on the outer islands to provide general nursing and midwifery services.

Question: What is the only hospital in Tuvalu?


Answer: 13

Question: How many nurses does Princess Margaret have on staff?


Answer: Funafuti

Question: On which island in Tuvalu is the hospital?


Answer: midwifery

Question: What kind of nursing services do outer islands nurses provide?


Answer: nine or ten

Question: How many nurses are provided to the outer islands?


Answer: Funafuti

Context: Fetuvalu offers the Cambridge syllabus. Motufoua offers the Fiji Junior Certificate (FJC) at year 10, Tuvaluan Certificate at Year 11 and the Pacific Senior Secondary Certificate (PSSC) at Year 12, set by the Fiji-based exam board SPBEA. Sixth form students who pass their PSSC go on to the Augmented Foundation Programme, funded by the government of Tuvalu. This program is required for tertiary education programmes outside of Tuvalu and is available at the University of the South Pacific (USP) Extension Centre in Funafuti.

Question: Where is the Extension Centre for the USP?


Answer: government of Tuvalu

Question: What group funds the Augmented Foundation Programme?


Answer: outside of Tuvalu

Question: Where is the Augmented Programme required for further education?


Answer: Sixth form

Question: Which students go into the Augmented Foundation Programme?


Answer: University of the South Pacific

Question: In what educational institution is the program found?


Answer: 10 years

Context: Required attendance at school is 10 years for males and 11 years for females (2001). The adult literacy rate is 99.0% (2002). In 2010, there were 1,918 students who were taught by 109 teachers (98 certified and 11 uncertified). The teacher-pupil ratio for primary schools in Tuvalu is around 1:18 for all schools with the exception of Nauti School, which has a teacher-student ratio of 1:27. Nauti School on Funafuti is the largest primary in Tuvalu with more than 900 students (45 percent of the total primary school enrolment). The pupil-teacher ratio for Tuvalu is low compared to the Pacific region (ratio of 1:29).

Question: What is the required education for males on Tuvalu?


Answer: 11 years

Question: How long are females required to go to school?


Answer: 99.0%

Question: What was the literacy rate on Tuvalu in 2002?


Answer: 1,918

Question: How many students were in Tuvalu schools in 2010?


Answer: 1:18

Question: What si the teacher-student ratio for Tuvalu schools?


Answer: Community Training Centres

Context: Community Training Centres (CTCs) have been established within the primary schools on each atoll. The CTCs provide vocational training to students who do not progress beyond Class 8 because they failed the entry qualifications for secondary education. The CTCs offer training in basic carpentry, gardening and farming, sewing and cooking. At the end of their studies the graduates can apply to continue studies either at Motufoua Secondary School or the Tuvalu Maritime Training Institute (TMTI). Adults can also attend courses at the CTCs.

Question: What type of school has Tuvalu set up on each atoll?


Answer: secondary education

Question: For what have CTC students failed to qualify ?


Answer: vocational training

Question: What from of education do Community Training Centres provide?


Answer: Adults

Question: Besides children, who can Take CTC classes?


Answer: basic

Question: What kind of training classes are offered at CTC?


Answer: plants and trees

Context: The traditional buildings of Tuvalu used plants and trees from the native broadleaf forest, including timber from: Pouka, (Hernandia peltata); Ngia or Ingia bush, (Pemphis acidula); Miro, (Thespesia populnea); Tonga, (Rhizophora mucronata); Fau or Fo fafini, or woman's fibre tree (Hibiscus tiliaceus). and fibre from: coconut; Ferra, native fig (Ficus aspem); Fala, screw pine or Pandanus. The buildings were constructed without nails and were lashed and tied together with a plaited sennit rope that was handmade from dried coconut fibre.

Question: What were the traditional building materials on Tuvalu?


Answer: broadleaf forest

Question: What type of trees provided lumber for building on Tuvalu?


Answer: fibre

Question: What building material did coconut provide?


Answer: nails

Question: What construction feature was lacking in Tuvaluan building?


Answer: dried coconut fibre

Question: From what was rope made for tying buildings together?


Answer: shells

Context: The women of Tuvalu use cowrie and other shells in traditional handicrafts. The artistic traditions of Tuvalu have traditionally been expressed in the design of clothing and traditional handicrafts such as the decoration of mats and fans. Crochet (kolose) is one of the art forms practiced by Tuvaluan women. The material culture of Tuvalu uses traditional design elements in artefacts used in everyday life such as the design of canoes and fish hooks made from traditional materials. The design of women's skirts (titi), tops (teuga saka), headbands, armbands, and wristbands, which continue to be used in performances of the traditional dance songs of Tuvalu, represents contemporary Tuvaluan art and design.

Question: What sea creatures were used in traditional handicrafts?


Answer: clothing

Question: In what item has Tuvalu traditional design been produced?


Answer: mats and fans

Question: What type of decorative items use traditional Tuvalu designs?


Answer: everyday life

Question: For what have objects having traditional design been used?


Answer: dance songs

Question: What traditional purpose are Tuvalu designs still used?


Answer: fish

Context: The cuisine of Tuvalu is based on the staple of coconut and the many species of fish found in the ocean and lagoons of the atolls. Desserts made on the islands include coconut and coconut milk, instead of animal milk. The traditional foods eaten in Tuvalu are pulaka, taro, bananas, breadfruit and coconut. Tuvaluans also eat seafood, including coconut crab and fish from the lagoon and ocean. A traditional food source is seabirds (taketake or black noddy and akiaki or white tern), with pork being eaten mostly at fateles (or parties with dancing to celebrate events).

Question: What is the stable protein of Tuvalu?


Answer: coconut

Question: What vegetable features in the Tuvalu diet?


Answer: animal

Question: What kind of milk has been replaced with coconut milk on Tuvalu?


Answer: seabirds

Question: What type of meat is eaten on Tuvalu?


Answer: fateles

Question: At what event is pork traditionally eaten on Tuvalu?


Answer: meeting hall

Context: Another important building is the falekaupule or maneapa the traditional island meeting hall, where important matters are discussed and which is also used for wedding celebrations and community activities such as a fatele involving music, singing and dancing. Falekaupule is also used as the name of the council of elders – the traditional decision making body on each island. Under the Falekaupule Act, Falekaupule means "traditional assembly in each island...composed in accordance with the Aganu of each island". Aganu means traditional customs and culture.

Question: What type of structure is the falekaupule?


Answer: celebrations

Question: Besides meetings, for what other use is the meeting hall used?


Answer: council of elders

Question: Aside from being defined as a meeting hall, what other definition does falekaupule have?


Answer: decision making body

Question: What is the traditional use of the falekaupule?


Answer: Aganu

Question: What is the traditional customs and culture on Tuvalu?


Answer: kilikiti

Context: A traditional sport played in Tuvalu is kilikiti, which is similar to cricket. A popular sport specific to Tuvalu is Ano, which is played with two round balls of 12 cm (5 in) diameter. Ano is a localised version of volleyball, in which the two hard balls made from pandanus leaves are volleyed at great speed with the team members trying to stop the Ano hitting the ground. Traditional sports in the late 19th century were foot racing, lance throwing, quarterstaff fencing and wrestling, although the Christian missionaries disapproved of these activities.

Question: What is the traditional sport on Tuvalu?


Answer: Ano

Question: What is the Tuvalu version of volley ball?


Answer: cricket

Question: To what sport is kilikiti like?


Answer: Christian missionaries

Question: What group disliked the traditional war-like sports of Tuvalu?


Answer: two hard balls

Question: With what equipment is ano played?


Answer: Tuau Lapua Lapua

Context: The popular sports in Tuvalu include kilikiti, Ano, football, futsal, volleyball, handball, basketball and rugby union. Tuvalu has sports organisations for athletics, badminton, tennis, table tennis, volleyball, football, basketball, rugby union, weightlifting and powerlifting. At the 2013 Pacific Mini Games, Tuau Lapua Lapua won Tuvalu's first gold medal in an international competition in the weightlifting 62 kilogram male snatch. (He also won bronze in the clean and jerk, and obtained the silver medal overall for the combined event.) In 2015 Telupe Iosefa received the first gold medal won by Tuvalu at the Pacific Games in the powerlifting 120 kg male division.

Question: What athlete won Tuvalu's first gold metal in competition?


Answer: Pacific Mini Games

Question: In which competition did Lapua win a metal for Tuvalu?


Answer: weightlifting

Question: In what contests did Lapua win metals for Tuvalu?


Answer: Telupe Iosefa

Question: Who won a gold metal at the Pacific Games?


Answer: powerlifting

Question: In what type of competition did Telupe losefa win in 2015?


Answer: Independence Day Sports Festival

Context: A major sporting event is the "Independence Day Sports Festival" held annually on 1 October. The most important sports event within the country is arguably the Tuvalu Games, which are held yearly since 2008. Tuvalu first participated in the Pacific Games in 1978 and in the Commonwealth Games in 1998, when a weightlifter attended the games held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Two table tennis players attended the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England; Tuvalu entered competitors in shooting, table tennis and weightlifting at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia; three athletes participated in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, entering the discus, shot put and weightlifting events; and a team of 3 weightlifters and 2 table tennis players attended the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Tuvaluan athletes have also participated in the men's and women's 100 metre sprints at the World Championships in Athletics from 2009.

Question: What is a major annual sports event in Tuvalu?


Answer: Tuvalu Games

Question: What is the most important sports event held on Tuvalu?


Answer: 1998

Question: In what year did Tuvalu first appear in the Commonwealth Games?


Answer: weightlifter

Question: What type of competitor entered the commonwealth Games in 1998?


Answer: 100 metre sprints

Question: What competitions have Tuvalu athletes entered in the World Championships in Athletics?


Answer: 5.6%

Context: From 1996 to 2002, Tuvalu was one of the best-performing Pacific Island economies and achieved an average real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 5.6% per annum. Since 2002 economic growth has slowed, with GDP growth of 1.5% in 2008. Tuvalu was exposed to rapid rises in world prices of fuel and food in 2008, with the level of inflation peaking at 13.4%. The International Monetary Fund 2010 Report on Tuvalu estimates that Tuvalu experienced zero growth in its 2010 GDP, after the economy contracted by about 2% in 2009. On 5 August 2012, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with Tuvalu, and assessed the economy of Tuvalu: "A slow recovery is underway in Tuvalu, but there are important risks. GDP grew in 2011 for the first time since the global financial crisis, led by the private retail sector and education spending. We expect growth to rise slowly". The IMF 2014 Country Report noted that real GDP growth in Tuvalu had been volatile averaging only 1 percent in the past decade. The 2014 Country Report describes economic growth prospects as generally positive as the result of large revenues from fishing licenses, together with substantial foreign aid.

Question: What was Tuvalu's GDP rate from 1996 to 2002?


Answer: 1.5%

Question: What has been the GDP of Tuvalu in 2008?


Answer: fuel and food

Question: What rises in cost have effected Tuvalu's domestic growth?


Answer: zero growth

Question: What has been the level of domestic growth in 2010 on Tuvalu?


Answer: large revenues

Question: What does Tuvalu expect as a return in fishing licenses and foreign aid?