Tonga
OFFICIAL NAME: Pule'anga Fakatu'i 'o Tonga
CAPITAL CITY: Nuku'alofa
POPULATION: 115,000 (2007)
AREA: 748 km²
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S): tonga, English
RELIGION: Methodists 41%, Catholics 16%, Mormons 14%, others 29%
COIN: pa'anga
CURRENCY CODE: TOP
ENGLISH NAME: Tonga
INDEPENDENCE: 1970
POPULATION COMPOSITION: Tongans (Polynesians) 96%, mixed 3%, others 1%
GDP PER residents: 1671 $ (2007)
LIFE EXPECTANCY: men 71 years, women 74 years (2007)
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, HDI: 0.815
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, POSITION: 55
INTERNET DOMAIN NAME: .thaw
Tonga, (Polynesian 'south, south wind'), formerly Friendly Islands
'Friendship Islands', Kingdom of the Pacific. The country
consists of several archipelagos spread over 260,000 km 2 of sea. Farthest
to the south is the main island of Tongatapu. 36 of the approximately 150 islands are
inhabited. The climate is tropical and quite humid; both temperatures and annual
precipitation increase from south to north. The northern islands are most often
hit by tropical cyclones.

According to AllCityPopulation.com,
the people are Polynesians, and Tonga is in many ways a very traditional
society, marked by inherited rights and customs and by the powerful king and his
family. Various Christian churches are of great importance and Tonga is one of
the communities where the day of rest is truly remembered. Traditional clothing
and home-made handicrafts are also part of everyday life.

- Countryaah:
Do you know how many people there are in Tonga? Check this site to see
population pyramid and resident density about this country.
Agriculture and coastal fishing produce mainly for own consumption, but the
focus is on the development of export crops such as vanilla and squash for Japan
and the USA. The property conditions are very special, as the land is in
principle the king's property, and the right of cultivation is distributed to
the country's nobility and other families. The same principle is also used in
many appointments to public office, and in the 1990's there were beginning
protests against the king and the autocratic traditions.
Tonga's economy is characterized by aid from Commonwealth countries and Japan
and by transfers from Tongans abroad. Tourism in Tonga is growing, to the
Vava'u archipelago, whose idyllic anchorages are very popular with yacht
tourists in the Pacific. Also the good opportunities to see humpback whales on
the move are an attraction.
Geology
Tonga is made up of two almost parallel rows of islands, all of which have
volcanic origins. The eastern archipelago consists of low coral islands whose
volcanic core is eroded away or sunk below sea level. The western archipelago
consists of higher islands whose volcanic core still rises above sea
level. These islands are made up of younger volcanoes, and four of them are
still active. The island chains lie along the boundary between two lithosphere
plates. From the east, the Pacific plate is pushed under the Indo-Australian
plate. The associated volcanism has formed the Tongary ridge with its many
islands and seamounts, while east of it has developed a deep-sea tomb,
the Tonga tomb, with depths down to 10,882 m.
National flag
The flag was officially confirmed in 1875, but dates back to 1862. It
originally consisted of a red cross in white. In order to distinguish it from
the Red Cross flag, it was put in a red tablecloth. According to the then king,
the cross was chosen to show that the country is Christian. The red color should
symbolize the blood of Christ. Red and white are also the Polynesian colors.
Language
The language tonga, which is a Polynesian language and belongs to
the Austronesian language family, is the official language alongside
English. On the island of Niuafu, a Polynesian language is closely related to
Samoan. English has around 2000 a dominant position in teaching and media.
History
As part of the spread of Polynesian cultures in the Pacific, people settled
approximately 1300 BC in Tonga; they made the characteristic lapita pottery. The
prehistoric society was strongly stratified; latest from 900-teKr. ruled Tu'i
Tonga, a line of chiefs with unrestricted power in both religious and
secular terms. I 1200-t. Tonga controlled many more remote islands, but
internally there were from the 1400's. recurring power struggles between
different lines of chiefs. Dutch ships visited Tonga as early as 1616, but only
after 1773, when James Cook called at the islands, which he named Friendly
Islands., contact with Europeans became permanent. Methodist missionaries,
established in 1826, played a crucial role in the abolition of the traditional
religion, the establishment of the kingdom, and the development of modern
society; with the support of the missionaries, a descendant of the old Tu'i
Tonga line succeeded in overcoming rival chiefs and becoming sole ruler
like King George Tupou I, who ruled 1845-93 (see also Tupou). Tonga's
constitution is from 1875, and the country's independence was recognized by
Germany, Great Britain and the United States in respectively. 1876, 1879 and
1888; yet in 1900 Tonga became a British protectorate. In 1970, Tonga became an
independent state within the Commonwealth. Modern society rests on inherited
traditions, but has also incorporated many elements from the West. The previous
constitution gave the king and the chiefs considerable influence, e.g., the king
appointed certain ministers. The regime has been criticized for being flawed
democratically, and in 2006 there was widespread unrest in Nuku'alofa. The
pressure on limited resources is great, and many Tongans today live in New
Zealand, the United States and Australia.
In 2010, King Tupou V decided that democracy should be introduced in the
country. November was so. held elections to a popularly elected parliament; the
electorate was to elect 17 of the 26 members of parliament, the remaining 9 were
reserved for the nobles.
|