Tonga Country Info - Oceania

Description and Basic Information

Tonga with its capital Nuku'alofa is located in Oceania (Oceania, archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean). It covers some 749 square kilometres (four times the size of Washington, DC) with 118,000 citizens. Tonga (Tonga Islands) and English are the the official languages used in Tonga.

Tonga is an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean. The country is divided into four island groups, or regions. Apart from a few historical sites on Tongatapu most things to do in Tonga reflect its island nature. Diving, snorkelling, fishing, boat trips, kayaking and kite surfing are all possible. There are some lovely beaches if you just want to laze around. Tonga has some good restaurants and this is the place to come if you like lobster. Take time to learn a little about Tonga's fairly feudal culture and its many traditions. Go to church. Even if you are not religious the singing can be very moving. Watch tapa cloth being made from mulberry bark and try a drink of kava, the traditional drink, which is a mild narcotic.

Pictures from Capital (Nuku'alofa)

Photos provided by Panoramio are under the copyright of their owners.

About Tonga

The topography features most islands have limestone base formed from uplifted coral formation with others have limestone overlying volcanic base. The average density of population is about 157 per km². The climate in Tonga can be described as tropical with modified by trade winds, warm season (December to May), cool season (May to December). Potential natural disasters are cyclones (October to April) or earthquakes and volcanic activity on Fonuafo'ou.

To reach someone in Tonga dial +676 prior to a number. There are 31,000 installed telephones. And there are 53,000 registered mobile phones. The cellular networks operate on frequencies of 900 Mhz. Websites typically end with the top level domain ".to". If you want to bring electric appliances (e.g. battery charger), keep in mind the local 240V - 50Hz. The following list are the 1 regions/states in Tonga we know off.

Demographic Statistics

In the year 2010, the total Tongan population grew at a rate of 1.28% (or by 1,573 citizens). With 607 deaths and 2,179 babies born, the natural increase rate lies at 1.28%. 0 persons more in total immigrated to the country than emmigrated.

An overview of age distribution in Tonga: Each pair of bars represents a single age group (male/female). Each group is spanning 5 years. E.g. 0 to 5 years, 5 to 10 etc. and group "0 to 5" being at the left end and "100 +" at the right end of the chart.

Based on content from wikitravel.org. The original article can be found here based on the work of these users.
Geographic information is based on the data provided by geonames.org, CIA factsbook and Unesco.