How did the Ellice Islands become part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony?

The Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu) became part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony through a process of imperial expansion and administrative consolidation by the British government.12

Following the establishment of a British protectorate over the Gilbert Islands in 1892, the Ellice Islands were added to this protectorate. This grouping was later formalized when the territory was made a crown colony in 1916. The inclusion of the Ellice Islands within this colonial structure was part of a broader British effort to manage its interests in the western Pacific, which also eventually extended to include the Phoenix Islands and the northern Line Islands.3412

This administrative union lasted until the 1970s, when ethnic tensions and rivalries over employment between the Gilbertese and the Ellice Islanders led to a demand for separation. This resulted in the division of the colony and the eventual independence of Tuvalu in 1978.152