[1][2] The atoll was claimed by the US under the Guano Islands Act some time in the 19th century and was ceded in a treaty of friendship concluded in 1979 and coming into force in 1983.

[4]: 86 Arent Schuyler de Peyster, of New York, captain of the armed brigantine or privateer Rebecca, sailing under British colours,[5][6] passed through the southern Tuvalu waters in May 1819 sighting Nukufetau.

[16][17] He returned sometime in the 1880s; in 1892 Captain Edward Davis, of HMS Royalist, recorded Alfred Restieaux and Emile Fenisot as trading on Nukufetau.

[20] In 1943 United States Navy Seabees build a deepwater wharf and an airfield on Motulalo, which is the largest islet of Nukufetau.

[23] Nukufetau was affected by storm surges caused by Cyclone Pam in early March 2015, which damaged houses, crops and infrastructure.

The $8 million cost of the project was paid by the United Nations Development Programme and was carried out by dredging and civil contracting company Hall Pacific.

The products include pulaka (a root crop), pigs, breadfruit, brown coconuts and germinating nuts.