Profile
Background and figures as recorded in the CIA World Factbook.
The first humans arrived in Tonga around 1000 B.C. The islands’ politics were highly centralized under the Tu’i Tonga, or Tongan king, by A.D. 950, and by 1200, the Tu’i Tonga had expanded his influence throughout Polynesia and into Melanesia and Micronesia. The Tongan Empire began to decline in the 1300s, with civil wars, a military defeat to Samoa, and internal political strife. By the mid-1500s, some Tu’i Tongans were ethnic Samoan, and day-to-day administration of Tonga was transferred to a new position occupied by ethnic Tongans.
- Capital
- Nuku'alofa
- Government
- constitutional monarchy
- Population
- 104,519
- Area
- 747 sq km
- Location
- Oceania, archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand
- Climate
- tropical; modified by trade winds; warm season (December to May), cool season (May to December)
- Natural resources
- arable land; fish
- Languages
- Tongan only 85%; Tongan and other language 13.9%; Tongan not used at home 1.1%
- Religions
- Protestant 63.9% (Free Wesleyan Church 34.2%; Free Church of Tonga 11.3%; Church of Tonga 6.8%; Seventh Day Adventist 2.5%…
- Independence
- 4 June 1970 (from UK protectorate status)
- Administrative divisions
- 5 island divisions; 'Eua, Ha'apai, Ongo Niua, Tongatapu, Vava'u
- Currency
- pa'anga (TOP)
- Export partners
- Guyana 17%; USA 17%; NZ 15%; Australia 15%…
- Import partners
- Fiji 27%; NZ 24%; China 21%; Australia 8%…
Source: CIA World Factbook — a work of the US government, in the public domain