TONGA

Bantu-speaking people who inhabit the southern portion of Zambia and neighbouring areas of northern Zimbabwe and Botswana. Numbering more than one million in the late 20th century, the Tonga are concentrated along the Zambezi Escarpment and along the shores of Lake Kariba. They are settled agriculturists who grow corn (maize) primarily for subsistence but also for limited commercial purposes. The vast majority of Tonga live in small, dispersed villages; they are the only one of Zambia's major tribal groupings whose wealth and power are founded upon rural, agricultural activities as opposed to urban pursuits. Descent is reckoned among the Tonga along matrilineal lines, and a newly married couple go to live near the bride's relatives. They attribute marked importance to spirits associated with rainfall, and thus rainmakers are prominent in Tonga society. Before the British colonization of what is now Zambia, the Tonga were loosely organized into a number of matrilineal clans that had neither leaders nor defined political functions. These clans were subdivided into numerous small lineages that controlled property and arbitrated disputes among their members. The British appointed village chiefs from among prominent local Tongas, and gradually this network of local officials coalesced into a single, unified political structure comprising a hierarchy of chiefs. Both the tribal identity and political organization of the Tonga are thus ultimately the products of British attempts to administer them. In the late 20th century the Tonga proper constituted about one-sixth of Zambia's population, making them the second largest tribal grouping in the country. officially Kingdom of Tonga, Tongan Pule'anga Fakatu'i 'o Tonga, also called Friendly Islands, country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of 169 islands divided into three main island groups: Tongatapu in the south, Ha'apai in the centre, and Vava'u in the north. Isolated islands include Niuafo'ou, Niuatoputapu, and Tafahi in the far north and 'Ata in the far south. Tonga's total land area of 290 square miles (750 square kilometres) is dispersed between latitudes 15 to 23 S and longitudes 173 to 177 W. The capital, Nuku'alofa, is on the island of Tongatapu, which, with an area of 99 square miles, is the country's largest. Tonga is a member of the Commonwealth. officially Kingdom of Tonga, Tongan Pule'anga Fakatu'i 'o Tonga, also called Friendly Islands constitutional monarchy in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, 2,000 miles (3,000 km) northeast of Sydney, Australia, and about 400 miles (640 km) east of Fiji. It comprises an archipelago of 169 islands (only 36 of which are permanently inhabited) that extends north to south in two parallel chains for about 500 miles (800 km). With a total land area of 290 square miles (750 square km), they are divided into three main groupsVava'u (in the north), Ha'apai (the central group), and Tongatapu (in the south)together with several isolated islands to the far north and one to the south. The capital is Nuku'alofa, on the largest of the islands, Tongatapu, which has an area of 99 square miles (256 square km). Pop. (1993 est.) 99,100. Additional reading John Connell, Migration, Employment, and Development in the South Pacific: Country Report (1983), vol. 18, Tonga, studies the effects of internal and external migration. Elizabeth Bott, Tongan Society at the Time of Captain Cook's Visits: Discussions with Her Majesty Queen Salote Tupou (1982), is a standard historical reference. Sione Latukefu, Church and State in Tonga: The Wesleyan Methodist Missionaries and Political Development, 18221875 (1974), is a detailed history. A.H. Wood, A History and Geography of Tonga (1943), is a brief but excellent introduction; and Noel Rutherford, Friendly Islands: A History of Tonga (1977), provides comprehensive coverage of life in Tonga.