[3] More people live in Funafuti than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with it containing approximately 60% of the nation's population.

Funafuti was first sighted by Europeans in 1819 by Arent Schuyler de Peyster, an American sea captain, who named it Ellice's Island.

Between 1850 and 1875, Funafati, with its navigable lagoon, was targeted by blackbirders who kidnapped natives to work at mines off the coast of Peru and Chile.

[4] In 1892, each of the Ellice Islands was declared a British protectorate by Captain Herbert Gibson of HMS Curacoa.

[4] In October 1942, during World War II, Funafuti was occupied by American forces to serve as a strategic staging ground for the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign.

As the capital of Tuvalu, Funafuti is by far the most urbanized atoll in the country, and is the hub of governmental, administrative, and economic activities.

"[13] Arent Schuyler de Peyster, captain of the armed brigantine privateer vessel Rebecca, was one of the first recorded non-Polynesian visitors to Funafuti.

His vessel sailed under British colors, and in May 1819, de Peyster passed through the southern waters of Tuvalu and sighted Funafuti.

[20][21] In 1882, members of the US Fish Commission visited Funafuti on the USFC Albatross to investigate the formation of coral reefs on Pacific atolls.

During that visit, Harry Clifford Fassett, the captain's clerk and a photographer, took pictures of people, communities, and scenery in Funafuti.

At the time the cyclone struck, he was the lone inhabitant of Fongafale, Funafuti's largest islet, because Tema, a Samoan missionary, had taken everyone else to Funafala to work on erecting a church.

The cyclone destroyed the buildings in Fongafale, including the church and the trading stores belonging to George Westbrook and Alfred Restieaux.

[23][24] In 1892, Captain Edward Davis of HMS Royalist provided a report describing the traders and trading activities he observed on each of the islands he visited.

Davis identified Jack O'Brien as a trader on Funafuti,[25] and O’Brien was also reported to be living on the atoll in 1896.

[33] The United States Marine Corps 5th Defense Battalion landed on Funafuti on 2 October 1942;[34][35] the operation was kept secret until the Japanese discovered it for themselves on 27 March 1943.

Bebe was a pre-season tropical cyclone that hit the Gilbert, Ellice, and Fiji island groups.

Below is a list of the islets in the conservation area, in order from north to south, with their estimated areas in hectares: The Darwin's Drill project, conducted by the Royal Society of London in 1896, 1897, and 1898, involved drilling boreholes on Funafuti to test Charles Darwin's theory of coral atoll formation.

At least three of these islets are inhabited: Fongafale (the main island) in the east, Funafala in the south, and Amatuku in the north.

[50] The Funafuti Conservation Area is located 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) across the lagoon from the main island of Fongafale, and is accessed by boat.

There is the Funafuti Lagoon Hotel, and other guesthouses as well as homes, constructed both in the traditional manner, out of palm fronds, and more recently out of cement blocks.

Other sites of interest are the remains of Japanese aircraft that crashed on Funafuti during World War II.

It sees an extraordinary amount of rainfall throughout the year, being the fourth-wettest national capital in the world behind Monrovia, Freetown and Conakry.

[70][71] The University of the South Pacific (USP)[72] Extension Centre on Funafuti operates the Augmented Foundation Programme for sixth form students who pass their Pacific Secondary School Certificate (PSSC) so that students have the opportunity to enroll in tertiary education programmes outside of Tuvalu.