Background: Tonga - unique among Pacific nations - never completely lost its indigenous governance. The archipelagos of 'The Friendly Islands' were united into a Polynesian kingdom in 1845. Tonga became a constitutional monarchy in 1875 and a British protectorate in 1900; it withdrew from the protectorate and joined the Commonwealth of Nations in 1970. Tonga remains the only monarchy in the Pacific.

Geographic coordinates: 20 00 S 175 00 W

Map reference: Oceania

Area
Total: 748 km²
Land: 718 km²
Water: 30 km²
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
Extremes 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

Geography
Note: archipelago of 169 islands (36 inhabited)

Population: 119,009 (July 2008 est.)
Growth rate: 1.669% (2008 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Tongan
Adjective: Tongan

Ethnic groups: Polynesian Europeans

Languages: Tongan English

Religions: Christian (Free Wesleyan Church claims over 30,000 adherents)

Age structure
0-14 years: 33.7% (male 20,484/female 19,633)
15-64 years: 62% (male 36,699/female 37,108)
65 years and over: 4.3% (male 2,135/female 2,950) (2008 est.)

Median age
Total: 21.8 years
Male: 21.3 years
Female: 22.3 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.669% (2008 est.)

Birth rate: 21.81 births/1000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 5.12 deaths/1000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate: NA (2008 est.)

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
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male/female
65 years and over: 0.72 male/female
Total population: 0.99 male/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 11.88 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 13.07 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 10.63 deaths/1000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 70.44 years
Male: 67.9 years
Female: 73.1 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.5 children born/woman (2008 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: NA
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: NA

Education expenditures: 5% of GDP (2004)

Literacy
Definition: can read and write Tongan and/or English
Total population: 98.9%
Male: 98.8%
Female: 99% (1999 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 13 years
Male: 13 years
Female: 13 years (2004)

Country name
Conventional long form: Kingdom of Tonga
Conventional short form: Tonga
Local long form: Pule'anga Tonga
Local short form: Tonga
Former: Friendly Islands

Government type: constitutional monarchy

Capital
Name: Nuku'alofa
Geographic coordinates: 21 08 S, 175 12 W
Time difference: UTC+13 (18 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

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 common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 21 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: King George TUPOU V (since 11 September 2006)
Head of government: Prime Minister Dr. Feleti SEVELE (since 11 February 2006); Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Viliami TANGI (since 16 May 2006)
Cabinet: Cabinet consists of 14 members, 10 appointed by the monarch for life; four appointed from among the elected members of the Legislative Assembly, including two 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: the monarch is hereditary; prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the monarch

Legislative branch
Elections: last held on 23-24 April 2008 (next to be held in 2011)
Election results: Peoples Representatives: percent of vote - independents 54%, THRDM 28%, PDP 14%; seats - THRDM 4, independents 3, PDP 2

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal (Chief Justice and high court justices from overseas chosen and approved by Privy Council)

Political parties and leaders: Tonga Human Rights and Democracy Movement or THRDM [Uliti UATA]; People's Democratic Party or PDP [Tesina FUKO]

International organization participation: ACP ADB C FAO G-77 IBRD ICAO ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS IHO IMF IMO IMSO Interpol IOC ITU ITUC OPCW PIF Sparteca SPC UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UPU WCO WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Fekitamoeloa 'UTOIKAMANU
In the us chancery: 250 East 51st Street, New York, NY 10,022
In the us telephone: [1] (917) 369-1025
In the us fax: [1] (917) 369-1024
In the us consulates general: San Francisco
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 overview: Tonga has a small open South Pacific island economy. It has a narrow export base in agricultural goods. Squash vanilla beans and yams are the main crops and agricultural exports including fish 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.

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $526 million (2007 est.)

Real gdp growth rate: -3.5% (2007 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $5,100 (2007 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 25%
Industry: 17%
Services: 57% (FY05/06 est.)

Agriculture products: squash coconuts copra bananas vanilla beans cocoa coffee ginger black pepper; fish

Industries: tourism construction fishing

Industrial production growth rate: 1% (2003 est.)

Labor force: 33,910 (2003)
By occupation agriculture: 65%
By occupation industry and services: 35% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate: 13% (FY03/04 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: NA%
Highest 10: NA%

Budget
Revenues: $80.48 million
Expenditures: $109.8 million (FY07/08)

Inflation rate consumer prices: 5.9% (2007 est.)

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 12.16% (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit: $163.1 million (31 December 2007)

Market value of publicly traded shares: $NA

Current account balance: -$23 million (2007 est.)

Exports: $22 million f.o.b. (2006)
Commodities: squash fish vanilla beans root crops
Partners: US 36.7% Japan 21.6% NZ 10.1% Fiji 5.8% Samoa 4.9% (2007)

Imports: $139 million f.o.b. (2006)
Commodities: foodstuffs machinery and transport equipment fuels chemicals
Partners: Fiji 32.5% NZ 27.5% US 9% Australia 7.4% China 5% (2007)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $40.83 million (yearend FY04/05)

Debt external: $80.7 million (2004)

Exchange rates: pa'anga (TOP) per US dollar - NA (2007) 2.0277 (2006) 1.96 (2005) 1.9716 (2004) 2.142 (2003)

Electricity
Production: 43 million kWh (2007 est.)
Consumption: 39.99 million kWh (2006 est.)
Exports: 0 kWh (2007)
Imports: 0 kWh (2007 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2007 est.)
Consumption: 0 m³ (2007 est.)
Exports: 0 m³ (2007 est.)
Imports: 0 m³ (2007 est.)
Proven reserves: 0 m³ (1 January 2007 est.)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 21,000 (2007)
Mobile cellular: 46,500 (2007)

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: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity roughly 40 telephones per 100 persons; fully automatic switched network
International: country code - 676; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) (2004)

Internet
Country code: .to
Hosts: 19,231 (2008)
Users: 8,400 (2007)

Military expenditures: 0.9% of GDP (2006 est.)

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age (est.); no conscription (2008)

Airports: 6 (2007)
With paved runways total: 1
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1 (2007)
With unpaved runways total: 5
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 3
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 1 (2007)

Roadways
Total: 680 km
Paved: 184 km
Unpaved: 496 km (2000)

Merchant marine
Total: 13
By type: bulk carrier 1, cargo 8, carrier 1, liquefied gas 1, passenger/cargo 1, refrigerated cargo 1
Foreign owned: 4 (Australia 1, Cyprus 1, Switzerland 1, UK 1) (2008)

Ports and terminals: Nuku'alofa

Disputes international: none