Tonga

Island country, South Pacific Ocean. Area: 289 sq mi (748 sq km). Population: (2009 est.) 103,000. Capital: Nuku'alofa. The people are of Polynesian ancestry. Languages: Tongan, English (both official). Religions: Christianity (mostly Protestant; also Roman Catholic, other Christians); also Baha'i. Currency: pa'anga. Tonga comprises an archipelago of some 170 islands that extends north-south in two parallel chains for roughly 500 mi (800 km). The eastern islands are low and formed of coral limestone; those in the west are mountainous and of volcanic origin, and four of the western islands are active volcanoes. The country has a developing free-market economy based mainly on agriculture. Chief products include fish, coconuts, sweet potatoes, and bananas. Tourism also is important. Tonga is a constitutional monarchy with one legislative house; the head of state is the king, and the head of government is the prime minister. Tonga was inhabited at least 3,000 years ago by people of the Lapita culture. The Tongans developed a stratified social system headed by a paramount ruler whose dominion by the 13th century extended as far as the Hawaiian Islands. The Dutch visited in the 17th century, but effective European contact dates from 1773, when Capt. James Cook arrived and named the archipelago the Friendly Islands. The modern kingdom was established during the reign (1845–93) of King George Tupou I. It became a British protectorate in 1900. This was dissolved in 1970 when Tonga, the only ancient kingdom surviving from the pre-European period in Polynesia, achieved complete independence within the Commonwealth. Tonga was at the centre of a financial scandal in the early 21st century when money in a government trust fund was lost while under the management of an American investor. This added to the country's ongoing financial problems. A political reform movement brought changes in the country's government in 2008; King George Tupou V ceded much of the monarchy's formerly absolute power and agreed to make most governmental decisions in consultation with the prime minister.

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