| Kingdom of Tonga Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga Timeline: Differently | ||||||
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| Motto: Ko e ʻOtua mo Tonga ko hoku tofiʻa "God and Tonga are my Inheritance" |
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| Anthem: Ko e fasi 'o e tu'i 'o e 'Otu Tonga "he Song of the King of the Tongan Islands" |
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 Location of Tonga in Oceania
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| Capital (and largest city) | Nukuʿalofa | |||||
| Official languages | English and Tongan | |||||
| Religion | Christianity (mainly Methodism) | |||||
| Demonym(s) | Tongan | |||||
| Government | Unitary parliamentary monarchy | |||||
| - | King | Tupou IV | ||||
| - | Prime Minister | Bob Dadae | ||||
| Legislature | Legislative Assembly | |||||
| Establishment | ||||||
| - | Independence from the United Kingdom | 4 June 1970 | ||||
| - | Constitution | 2010 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 748 km2 289 sq mi |
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| Population | ||||||
| - | Estimate | 100,651 (144th) | ||||
| Currency | Paʻanga | |||||
| Drives on the | right | |||||
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is a Polynesian country comprising 169 islands, of which 36 are inhabited. The archipelago has a total surface area of over 700,000 square kilometers and a population of about 100,000 inhabitants, of whom 70% reside on the main island, Tongatapu. This makes one of the smallest and least populous nations in the world, ranking only 142nd by area and 144th by population among the world's 152 sovereign nations. In Oceania alone, it is the second-smallest and second-least populous country.
Tonga shares maritime borders with Fiji and Melanesia.
From 1900 to 1970, Tonga was a British protectorate. The United Kingdom looked after its foreign affairs under a Treaty of Friendship. But Tonga never relinquished its sovereignty to any foreign power. In 2010, Tonga took a decisive step away from its traditional absolute monarchy and towards becoming a fully functioning constitutional monarchy, after legislative reforms paved the way for its first partial representative elections.
Tonga is a member of the League of Nations and the Oceania Union.
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