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Introduction | Tonga

Background: | The archipelago of "The Friendly Islands" was united into a Polynesian kingdom in 1845. It became a constitutional monarchy in 1875 and a British protectorate in 1900. Tonga acquired its independence in 1970 and became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. It remains the only monarchy in the Pacific.

Geography | Tonga

Location: | Oceania, archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand
Geographic coordinates: | 20 00 S, 175 00 W
Map references: | Oceania
Area: | total: 748 sq km land: 718 sq km water: 30 sq km
Area - comparative: | four times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: | 0 km
Coastline: | 419 km
Maritime claims: | territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Climate: | tropical; modified by trade winds; warm season (December to May), cool season (May to December)
Terrain: | most islands have limestone base formed from uplifted coral formation; others have limestone overlying volcanic base
Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Kao Island 1,033 m
Natural resources: | fish, fertile soil
Land use: | arable land: 20% permanent crops: 14.67% other: 65.33% (2005)
Irrigated land: | NA
Natural hazards: | cyclones (October to April); earthquakes and volcanic activity on Fonuafo'ou
Environment - current issues: | deforestation results as more and more land is being cleared for agriculture and settlement; some damage to coral reefs from starfish and indiscriminate coral and shell collectors; overhunting threatens native sea turtle populations
Environment - international agreements: | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: | archipelago of 169 islands (36 inhabited)

People | Tonga

Population: | 114,689 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: | 0-14 years: 35.3% (male 20,679/female 19,843) 15-64 years: 60.5% (male 34,399/female 34,964) 65 years and over: 4.2% (male 2,059/female 2,745) (2006 est.)
Median age: | total: 20.7 years male: 20.1 years female: 21.3 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate: | 2.01% (2006 est.)
Birth rate: | 25.37 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: | 5.28 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration rate: | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant mortality rate: | total: 12.3 deaths/1,000 live births male: 13.63 deaths/1,000 live births female: 10.91 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 69.82 years male: 67.32 years female: 72.45 years (2006 est.)
Total fertility rate: | 3 children born/woman (2006 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | NA
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths: | NA
Nationality: | noun: Tongan(s) adjective: Tongan
Ethnic groups: | Polynesian, Europeans
Religions: | Christian (Free Wesleyan Church claims over 30,000 adherents)
Languages: | Tongan, English
Literacy: | definition: can read and write Tongan and/or English total population: 98.9% male: 98.8% female: 99% (1999 est.)

Government | Tonga

Country name: | conventional long form: Kingdom of Tonga conventional short form: Tonga former: Friendly Islands
Government type: | hereditary constitutional monarchy
Capital: | Nuku'alofa
Administrative divisions: | 3 island groups; Ha'apai, Tongatapu, Vava'u
Independence: | 4 June 1970 (from UK protectorate)
National holiday: | Emancipation Day, 4 June (1970)
Constitution: | 4 November 1875; revised 1 January 1967
Legal system: | based on English law
Suffrage: | 21 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: King Taufa'ahau TUPOU IV (since 16 December 1965)
head of government: Acting Prime Minister Feleti SEVELE (since 11 February 2006); Deputy Prime Minister James C. COCKER (since January 2001)
cabinet: Cabinet consists of 16 members, 12 appointed by the monarch for life; 4 appointed from among the elected members of the Legislative Assembly, including 2 each from the nobles and peoples representatives serving three year terms
note: there is also a Privy Council that consists of the monarch, the cabinet, and two governors
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed for life by the monarch

Legislative branch:

unicameral Legislative Assembly or Fale Alea (30 seats - 12 reserved for cabinet ministers sitting ex officio, 9 for nobles selected by the country's 33 nobles, and 9 elected by popular vote; members serve three-year terms)
elections: last held 21 March 2005 (next to be held in 2008)
election results: Peoples Representatives: percent of vote - HRDMT 70%; seats - HRDMT 7, independents 2

Judicial branch: | Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal (consists of the Privy Council with the addition of the chief justice of the Supreme Court)
Political parties and leaders: | there are no political parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: | Human Rights and Democracy Movement Tonga or HRDMT [Rev. Simote VEA, chairman]
International organization participation: | ACP, AsDB, C, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Fekitamoeloa 'UTOIKAMANU chancery: 250 East 51st Street, New York, NY 10022 telephone: [1] (917) 369-1025 FAX: [1] (917) 369-1024 consulate(s) general: San Francisco
Diplomatic representation from the US: | the US does not have an embassy in Tonga; the ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Tonga
Flag description: | red with a bold red cross on a white rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner

Economy | Tonga

Economy - overview:

Tonga, a small, open, South Pacific island economy, has a narrow export base in agricultural goods. Squash, coconuts, bananas, and vanilla beans are the main crops, and agricultural exports make up two-thirds of total exports. The country must import a high proportion of its food, mainly from New Zealand. The country remains dependent on external aid and remittances from Tongan communities overseas to offset its trade deficit. Tourism is the second-largest source of hard currency earnings following remittances. The government is emphasizing the development of the private sector, especially the encouragement of investment, and is committing increased funds for health and education. Tonga has a reasonably sound basic infrastructure and well-developed social services. High unemployment among the young, a continuing upturn in inflation, pressures for democratic reform, and rising civil service expenditures are major issues facing the government.

GDP (purchasing power parity): | $244 million (2002 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): | NA
GDP - real growth rate: | 1.4% (FY03/04 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): | $2,300 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 23% industry: 27% services: 50% (FY03/04 est.)
Labor force: | 33,910 (1996)
Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture 65% (1997 est.)
Unemployment rate: | 13% (FY03/04 est.)
Population below poverty line: | NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 10.3% (2002 est.)
Budget: | revenues: $39.9 million expenditures: $52.4 million; including capital expenditures of $1.9 million (FY99/00 est.)
Agriculture - products: | squash, coconuts, copra, bananas, vanilla beans, cocoa, coffee, ginger, black pepper; fish
Industries: | tourism, fishing
Industrial production growth rate: | 8.6% (FY98/99)
Electricity - production: | 34 million kWh (2003)
Electricity - production by source: | fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - consumption: | 31.62 million kWh (2003)
Electricity - exports: | 0 kWh (2003)
Electricity - imports: | 0 kWh (2003)
Oil - production: | 0 bbl/day (2003 est.)
Oil - consumption: | 800 bbl/day (2003 est.)
Oil - exports: | NA bbl/day
Oil - imports: | NA bbl/day
Natural gas - production: | 0 cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: | 0 cu m (2003 est.)
Exports: | $34 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: | squash, fish, vanilla beans, root crops
Exports - partners: | Japan 37%, China 18.7%, US 17.7%, Taiwan 8.7%, New Zealand 7.4% (2004)
Imports: | $122 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: | foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, fuels, chemicals
Imports - partners: | New Zealand 37.1%, Fiji 24.3%, Australia 9.1%, China 8.9%, US 6.3% (2004)
Debt - external: | $63.4 million (2001)
Economic aid - recipient: | Australia $5.5 million, New Zealand $2.3 million (FY01/02)
Currency (code): | pa'anga (TOP)
Currency code: | TOP
Exchange rates: | pa'anga per US dollar - NA (2005), 1.9716 (2004), 2.142 (2003), 2.1952 (2002), 2.1236 (2001)
Fiscal year: | 1 July - 30 June

Communications | Tonga

Telephones - main lines in use: | 11,200 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular: | 9,000 (2004)

Telephone system:

general assessment: competition between Tonga Telecommunications Corporation (TCC) and Shoreline Communications Tonga (SCT) is accelerating expansion of telecommunications; SCT recently granted authority to develop high-speed digital service for telephone, Internet, and television
domestic: fully automatic switched network
international: country code - 676; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) (2004)

Radio broadcast stations: | AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 1 (2004)
Radios: | 61,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: | 3 (2004)
Televisions: | 2,000 (1997)
Internet country code: | .to
Internet hosts: | 18,910 (2005)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 2 (2000)
Internet users: | 3,000 (2004)

Transportation | Tonga

Airports: | 6 (2005)
Airports - with paved runways: | total: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2005)
Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 5 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 1 (2005)
Roadways: | total: 680 km paved: 184 km unpaved: 496 km (1999)
Merchant marine: | total: 20 ships (1000 GRT or over) 102,427 GRT/148,871 DWT by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 12, liquefied gas 2, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 1 foreign-owned: 5 (Australia 1, Norway 1, Switzerland 1, UK 1, US 1) (2005)
Ports and terminals: | Nuku'alofa

Military | Tonga

Military branches: | Tonga Defense Services: Ground Forces (Royal Marines, Royal Guard), Maritime Force (includes Air Wing)
Military service age and obligation: | 18 years of age (est.) (2004)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: | NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | NA

Transnational Issues | Tonga

Disputes - international: | none

This page was last updated on 29 March, 2006