| GEOGRAPHY |
| Country name: |
conventional long form: Kingdom of Tonga
conventional short form: Tonga
former: Friendly Islands |
| Capital: |
Nuku'alofa |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Elavation
Extremes: |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Kao Island 1,033 m |
| Natural
Resources: |
fish, fertile soil |
| GOVERNEMENT |
| Governement
Type: |
hereditary constitutional monarchy |
| Administratives
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: Prime Minister Prince Lavaka ata ULUKALALA (since 3 January 2000) and Deputy Prime Minister James C. COCKER (since NA 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, nine for nobles selected by the country's 33 nobles, and nine 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 |
| PEOPLE |
| Population: |
112,422 (July 2005 est.) |
| Age structure: |
0-14 years: 36.2% (male 20,738/female 19,907)
15-64 years: 59.7% (male 33,226/female 33,853)
65 years and over: 4.2% (male 2,031/female 2,667) (2005 est.) |
| Median age: |
total: 20.46 years
male: 19.93 years
female: 21.02 years (2005 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Tongan(s)
adjective: Tongan |
| Ethnic groups: |
Polynesian, Europeans about 300 |
| Religions: |
Christian (Free Wesleyan Church claims over 30,000 adherents) |
| Languages: |
Tongan, English |
| COMUNICATIONS |
| 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) |
| Television broadcast
stations: |
3 (2004) |
| Internet country
code: |
.to |
| Internet hosts: |
18,906 (2003) |
| Internet users: |
2,900 (2002) |
| TRANSPORT |
| Railways: |
|
| Highways: |
total: 680 km
paved: 184 km
unpaved: 496 km (1999 est.) |
| Waterways: |
|
| Pipelines: |
|
| Ports and harbors: |
Neiafu, Nuku'alofa, Pangai |
| Merchant marine: |
total: 29 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 136,977 GRT/200,751 DWT
by type: cargo 21, chemical tanker 1, liquefied gas 2, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 1, vehicle carrier 1
foreign-owned: 7 (Cyprus 1, France 1, Greece 1, Norway 1, Romania 2, United Kingdom 1) (2005) |
| Airports: |
6 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
paved runways: |
total: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
unpaved runways: |
total: 5
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
| Heliports: |
|
