officially Kingdom of Tonga
Island country, South Pacific Ocean.
Area: 289.5 sq mi (749.9 sq km). Population (2002 est.): 101,000. Capital: Nuku'alofa . The people are of Polynesian ancestry. Languages: Tongan, English (both official). Religions: Free Wesleyanism, Roman Catholicism. Currency: pa'anga. Tonga comprises an archipelago of about 169 islands that extends north to south in two parallel chains for about 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 have 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 and government is the king, assisted by the privy council. 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 the islands in the 17th century, but effective contact dates from 1773, when Capt. Commonwealth . In 2001 Tonga was at the centre of a financial scandal when it became known that an American investor who had been entrusted to invest a $20 million trust fund belonging to the government had lost that money.