Following a referendum in 1974, the Ellice Islands elected to become independent from the Gilbert Islands.

The newly independent entity of Tuvalu was added to the DXCC List in December 1975, with QSOs counting from 1976-01-01.


QST December 1975 announced the following:

    "On January 1, 1976, an administrative separation will be made in what currently is, and has been, the Gilbert and Ellice Colony. The Ellice Isands will become a Crown Colony, completely separate and no longer a part of  the Gilbert and Ellice Colony.. The name will be known as Tuvalu, It is expected that the prefix for stations operating from Tuvalu will be VR8. DXCC credits for Tuvalu will be for contacts made January 1, 1976, or after."


Location map (credit: WorldAtlas.com):



Islands map (By CIA - CIA World Fact Book, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1265386):


Prefix: VR8, T2 from October 1978.


Ranking in "Most Wanted" league.


The IOTA reference for Tuvalu  is OC-015.



Whitelisting

Tuvalu Islands is a whitelisted DXCC entity. The following table lists stations known to have been QRV from <> Islands and which are thought to be good for DXCC credit.
The callsigns below are the only ones that Club Log will map to <>. These callsigns have been taken from QSL cards and other sources.
Callsigns that are not listed below, or QSOs outside the exception date range, will not be mapped to Tuvalu but will be mapped as INVALID.
Please advise any missing valid <> callsigns to Alan, 5B4AHJor via the Help Desk.


CallDate/Note (follow callsign links to see exact dates, QSLs and additional notes)
VR8A1976 - January
VR8B1976 - January

VR8D

1976 - March/April
VR8N1977 - April/May
VR8O1978 - February until October
T2O1978 - October/November QSL required 
T2T1979 - February/March. 
T2AAA1979 - April until 1980 October
T2AABInformation required, not whitelisted
T2AAC1981 - February QSL required
T2AAD1980 - October/Novenber
T2AAE1980 - October
T2AAF1980 - November
T2XYL1980 - January until 1981 - January
T2GSH1981 - January until 1984 - May
T2ETA, T2VEL1981 - October
T2GMM1982 - January/February  QSL required
T2AGD1982 - August
T26FIC1983 - info/QSL required, not whitelisted.
T2ADX, T2RAA, T2RTY, T2YKC1983 - October
T2ITA1983 - December to 1987 - August
T2ADE1985 - June -to September
T21ZK1986 - March
T2ARY1986 - October
T20EE1988 - August QSL required
T20AA1987 - August until 2000 - April
T22JJ, T28RR,  T25TT 1988 - March
T22VU1988 - April
T20LJ1988 - October QSL required
T28RK1988 - October/November QSL required
T20JT1989 - April QSL required
T27RA1989 - May QSL required
T26LP1989 - June
T28RW
1989 - June and November QSLs 
T29GN1989 - December
T20FW, T29HC1990 - January QSL required 
T20JH1990 - June
T22KY1990 - December QSL required 
T21CE, T22YL, T23XX 1991 - January/February
T20WW1991 - September - November
T20VJ, T20XV1991 - October
T29HC, T29HC/QRP
1992 - January QSL required 
T26DX, T26JA1992 - February
T20CB1992 - September
T21XO (T21XO/P), T25AO (T25AO/P, T28IO (T28IO/P)1993 - January
T24JJ1993 - January
T29HC, T29HC/QRP
1994 - January
T24JJ
1994 - February
T20JC1992 - March to 1994 - August
T20CC1994 - February QSL required
T20XC1994 - December to 1995 - February
T20XC1995 - June
T28RW, T26LP1996 - October
T22MS1997 - March/April QSL required
T24JA, T2DX1998 - October
T20FW1999 - January
T20HC, T20HC/QRP1999 - January/February QSL required 
T22JY, T22KJ, T22TK, T22VE1999 - May
T24DX1999 - August/September
T2DX
1999 - October
T2DX
2000 - October
T20CK2000 - December to 2001 - January
T2DX
2001 - October
T2T,  T2SIX2001 - November
T20HC, T20HC/QRP
2002 - February QSL required 
T2X2002 - April to June (dates needed).
T2DA, T23A, T25A, T26U2002 - April/May
T2DX
2002 - Octo
T22MY, T2YL2003 - June
T20MW2003 - October
T20VB2003 - October/November
T20HC, T20HC/QRP
2004 - February QSL required 
T20DX2004 - August  QSL required
T20AH2004 - October
T20HC, T20HC/QRP
2007 - February QSL required 
T22V2007 - December/2008 - January
T20HC, T20HC/QRP
2008 - April QSL required 
T22ZL2008 - October
T20HC, T20HC/QRP
2009- February QSL required 
T27A, T27OU
2009 - February/March
T2UF2009 - March/April
T2G2009 - September QSL required
T209DX2009 - September
T2A2010 - April
T2XG2011 - May
T2T, T2V2011 - November/December
T2TT2012 - March/April
T2GM
2013 - March 
T2YY2013 - March/April
T2RG2015 - May/June
T2TK2015 - September, on going - resident
T2GC2015 - September/October
T2XX2015 - November
T2TT2015 - November/December
T2COW2016 - July/August
T2TP2016 - August, on going, a resident.
T2R2016 - September/October
T2J2016 - October
T2AT2016 - October, on going, a resident.
T2AQ, T2QR, T2TT2017 - March/April
T2AR2017 - June/July
T2R, T2AR2019 - June/July
T22T
2023 - August
T2C2023 - Tuval
T2BTDates not yet announced.
The ones that didn't count for Tuvalu
VR1C, VR1SQRV before 1976-01-01


Acknowledgements and references


Anthony Quest G4UZN

Hamgallery Tuvalu  Oceania T2

Holger Hannemann ZL3IO

Les Nouvelles DX - VR8 - Tuvalu

Wikipedia - Gilbert and Ellis Islands