KEY FACTS

Joined Commonwealth: 1970
Population: 105,000 (2012)
GDP p.c. growth: 1.7% p.a. 1990–2012
UN HDI 2012: world ranking 95
Official languages: Tongan, English
Time: GMT plus 13hr
Currency: Pa’anga or Tongan dollar (TOP; T$)

Geography

Area: 748 sq km
Coastline: 419 km
Capital: Nuku’alofa

The Kingdom of Tonga, known as ‘The Friendly Islands’, lies in the central south-west Pacific, surrounded (clockwise from the west) by Fiji, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Samoa, Cook Islands and, to the south, New Zealand. The islands, which straddle the international date line, lie to the east of the Tonga Trench, containing some of the deepest waters of the South Pacific. The main island sub-groups are Tongatapu, Vava’u and Ha’apai. The largest island is Tongatapu.

Main towns:

Nuku’alofa (capital, pop. 24,300 in 2010), Mu’a (5,200), Haveloloto (3,500), Vaini (3,100) and Tofoa–Koloua (2,600) on Tongatapu; Neiafu (4,000) on Vava’u; Pangai (1,600) on Lifuka in the Ha’apai group of islands; and Ohonua (1,300) on Eua.

Society

KEY FACTS 2012

Population per sq km: 140
Life expectancy: 73 years
Net primary enrolment: 96%

Population:

105,000 (2012); 24 per cent of people live in urban areas; growth 0.4 per cent p.a. 1990–2012; birth rate 26 per 1,000 people (37 in 1970); life expectancy 73 years (65 in 1970). The vast majority of the people are of Polynesian descent. Tonga suffers from heavy emigration, mostly to New Zealand, Australia and the USA. There are 50,478 Tongans living in New Zealand, more than half of whom were born there (2006 New Zealand census).

Language:

Tongan and English are official languages.

Education:

There are nine years of compulsory education starting at the age of six. Primary school comprises six years and secondary six, with cycles of four and two years. More than 95 per cent of primary students attend state schools, while about 90 per cent of secondary students attend church schools. Some 90 per cent of pupils complete primary school (2005). The school year starts in February. Tonga is a partner in the regional University of the South Pacific, which has its main campus in Suva, Fiji, and a campus at ’Atele, about 7 km from Nuku’alofa, where some 1,400 students are enrolled each semester for preliminary, foundation and degree courses, using the university’s distance-learning facilities. Literacy among people aged 15–24 is 99 per cent (2006).