47 Fun Facts About Tonga

Tonga is officially known as what kind of state, the only one of its kind left in the Pacific islands?

A kingdom: Tonga is the Kingdom of Tonga, the last surviving indigenous monarchy among the Pacific island nations, with a hereditary royal line that has never been broken.

What is the capital of Tonga?

Nuku'alofa, on the north coast of the main island Tongatapu, is Tonga's capital and largest town; its waterfront was hit by the tsunami of January 2022.

Tonga lies in which region of the Pacific?

It is directly south of Samoa, about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand, and 98% of its people are Polynesian Tongans.

How many islands make up Tonga, of which 45 are inhabited?

171: Tonga's 171 islands, 45 of them inhabited, stretch along an 800 km north-south line in three main groups, Vava'u, Ha'apai and Tongatapu, plus the far northern Niuas.

Tonga became known as the 'Friendly Islands' after warmly welcoming which explorer in 1773?

He arrived during the 'inasi first-fruits festival. According to William Mariner, the chiefs wanted to kill him but could not agree on a plan.

The name 'Tonga' comes from a Polynesian word meaning what?

Southwards: tonga means 'south' or 'southwards' in Tongan and related languages, fitting the archipelago's position south of Samoa; the word is cognate with Hawaiian kona, meaning leeward, as in the Kona District.

The first Europeans to reach Tonga, in 1616, sailed under which flag?

Dutch: the ship Eendracht, on a Dutch voyage seeking a new route to the Indies, called at Tonga's northern islands in 1616, and fellow Dutchman Abel Tasman followed in 1643, well over a century before the British.

Which warrior chief, baptised George in 1831, united Tonga under one crown in 1845?

Taufa'ahau, chief of Ha'apai, was baptised Siaosi (George) by Methodist missionaries in 1831, conquered his rivals and ruled a united Tonga as King George Tupou I from 1845.

In which year did Tonga adopt its constitution and formally become a constitutional monarchy?

1875: King George Tupou I granted the constitution on 4 November 1875, drafted with missionary Shirley Baker; it also enshrines the national flag, which it says may never be altered.

From 1900 to 1970 Tonga had what relationship with Britain?

A protected state under a Treaty of Friendship: the 1900 treaty let Britain handle Tonga's foreign affairs through a consul, but Tonga kept its internal self-government until the arrangement ended in 1970.

Queen Salote Tupou III charmed the world at Elizabeth II's 1953 coronation by doing what?

Riding through the rain in an open carriage: as a mark of respect under Tongan custom she refused to raise the hood of her carriage while the other processional carriages closed theirs, and the soaked crowds adored her.

The king who reigned from 1965 to 2006, Tupou IV, held what physical distinction among Tongan monarchs?

Tallest and heaviest: weighing 209.5 kg in 1976, he was recorded by Guinness as the world's heaviest monarch; in later life he slimmed down dramatically and became a national symbol of dieting.

In which year did Tonga first elect a majority of its parliament by popular vote?

2010: the November 2010 election was the first in which most seats, 17 of 26, were chosen by popular vote; the 2006 riots in the capital, aimed largely at Chinese-owned shops, had pushed the reforms.

The January 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai has been compared in size to which historic blast?

Krakatoa in 1883: the blast's atmospheric pressure wave circled the globe several times, a scale last matched by the 1883 Krakatoa eruption, and it cut Tonga's only undersea internet cable for more than a month.

How far from the main island of Tongatapu was the volcano that erupted in 2022?

65 km: the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano lies about 65 km north of Tongatapu, so its tsunami reached the capital within minutes; the waves even drowned two women on a beach in Peru.

Tonga's flag is red with a white canton bearing what?

A red cross: the red cross in the white canton stands for Christianity, while the red field recalls the blood of Christ; the design dates from the reign of George Tupou I.

What is Tonga's currency?

The pa'anga: Tonga's currency since 1967, the pa'anga is managed against a basket of the Australian, New Zealand and US dollars and the yen; the tala, vatu and kina belong to Samoa, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.

In Tonga, which animals are considered sacred and the property of the monarchy, so they cannot be hunted?

Flying foxes: the fruit bats are regarded as sacred and royal property, so they may not be hunted, and they roost in huge, noisy colonies, most famously at Kolovai on Tongatapu.

What is Tonga's national sport?

Rugby union is Tonga's national sport; the national side performs the Sipi Tau war dance before matches and has played at nine Rugby World Cups, missing only the 1991 tournament through 2023.

What is the nickname of Tonga's national team in its most popular sport?

Sea Eagles, 'Ikale Tahi in Tongan, is the nickname of the national side; their best World Cups were 2007, when they ran eventual champions South Africa to 30-25, and 2011.

At the 2011 Rugby World Cup Tonga stunned which eventual finalist 19-14 in the pool stage?

France still edged them out for the quarter-finals on bonus points after Tonga's 41-10 opening loss to the All Blacks and a narrow defeat to Canada.

In rugby league, the national team's motto 'Mate Ma'a ...' followed by the country's name means what?

Die for: Mate Ma'a Tonga means 'Die for Tonga'; stars like Jason Taumalolo and Andrew Fifita switched allegiance before the 2017 World Cup, and Tonga went on to beat New Zealand, then Great Britain and Australia in 2019.

Paea Wolfgramm won Tonga's first Olympic medal, a silver at Atlanta 1996, in which sport?

Super-heavyweight boxing: Wolfgramm lost the super-heavyweight final to Ukraine's Wladimir Klitschko, taking Tonga's first Olympic medal; Tonga has since sent athletes to both Summer and Winter Games.

Pita Taufatofua became world-famous as Tonga's flag-bearer at Rio 2016 for appearing how?

Shirtless and oiled in a traditional ta'ovala: the taekwondo fighter's glistening entrance went viral; he then took up cross-country skiing to reach the 2018 Winter Games and carried the flag again at Tokyo.

The 13th-century stone trilithon on Tongatapu, the Ha'amonga, carries what nickname?

The Stonehenge of the Pacific: the trilithon's two upright coral-stone pillars and lintel, each weighing several tons, were reputedly raised around 1200 by King Tu'itatui to honour his two sons.

What title did the ruler of the medieval Tongan maritime empire bear?

Tu'i Tonga: the title of the sacred kings descended from 'Aho'eitu, whose maritime empire from about the 10th century drew tribute from as far as Fiji, Samoa and Niue; ariki and ratu are Maori and Fijian chiefly titles.

Tonga's earliest known settlement, Nukuleka, has been dated to roughly what year?

888 BC: Lapita pottery makers settled Nukuleka on Tongatapu around 888 BC, give or take a decade, making it the oldest known site in the islands.

In the Tongan social system of fahu, which relative holds the highest rank in a family?

The father's sister: under fahu, sisters rank above brothers and the paternal line above the maternal, so a father's eldest sister, the mehekitanga, outranks everyone in the family and is honoured at feasts and funerals.

What does the everyday Tongan greeting 'Malo e lelei' mean?

Hello: Malo e lelei is the standard Tongan greeting, literally 'thanks for being well'; malo on its own means thank you.

What happens to commerce and entertainment in Tonga every Sunday?

It all stops, by constitutional law: the constitution declares the Sabbath sacred, so shops, markets and organised sport shut down each Sunday, with only essentials such as bakeries and hotels exempt.

Roughly what share of Tongans are Latter-day Saints, one of the highest shares in the world?

Nearly a fifth: about 18% of Tongans belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the 2016 census, among the highest national shares anywhere; its first missionaries arrived in 1891.

Which volcanic island in the Ha'apai group is Tonga's highest point?

Kao, a steep dormant volcanic cone in the Ha'apai group, rises about 1,030 metres above the sea, the highest point in Tonga.

From 1987 Tonga found a lucrative but risky export market in Japan for which vegetable?

Squash: from 1987 Tongan farmers grew pumpkin squash for the Japanese winter market, a boom that peaked in the 1990s before price swings and oversupply made growers wary; kava and vanilla became other key exports.

Tonga's postage stamps are prized by collectors for unusual shapes, including which of these?

Hearts and bananas: from 1963 Tonga issued self-adhesive, free-form stamps cut as bananas, hearts, maps and fruit, a 1960s-70s novelty that made the kingdom a philatelic curiosity.

The Tonga Trench, off the islands, is the deepest ocean trench in which category?

The Southern Hemisphere: the Tonga Trench's Horizon Deep, about 10,800 metres down, is the deepest point south of the equator and second only to the Mariana Trench; the Pacific plate subducts here faster than anywhere else on Earth.

The 1789 mutiny on HMS Bounty broke out about 30 nautical miles south of which Tongan island?

Fletcher Christian acted days after a tense stop at Nomuka. Bligh's men were attacked when they landed on Tofua and one was killed.

The 1918 flu pandemic, brought by a ship from New Zealand, killed roughly what share of Tongans?

8%: the influenza carried from New Zealand in November 1918 killed about 1,800 people, roughly 8% of a population of some 23,000.

When Tonga joined the Commonwealth in 1970 it did so unusually as a country with what?

Its own monarch: Tonga entered the Commonwealth in June 1970 as a sovereign monarchy under its own ruler rather than the British Crown, a status shared only by Malaysia, Brunei, Lesotho and Eswatini; it joined the United Nations in 1999.

How many administrative divisions does Tonga have?

Five: Tonga's five divisions are 'Eua, Ha'apai, the Niuas, Tongatapu and Vava'u; Vava'u is the whale-watching and cruise-ship centre.

Per the 2021 WorldRiskReport, where does Tonga rank among countries most exposed to natural disasters?

Third: the 2021 WorldRiskReport ranked Tonga third, behind Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, because cyclones, earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis all threaten its low islands; the cyclone season runs from November to April.

Tonga's population is closest to which figure?

105,000: the 2021 census counted just over 100,000 people in Tonga, while roughly 82,000 people of Tongan descent lived in New Zealand alone at its 2018 census, more than in any Tongan town.

Land in Tonga is protected by the constitution in what way?

It cannot be sold to foreigners: the constitution forbids the sale of any land in the kingdom, so foreigners may only lease it; the system long discouraged farmers from planting long-term tree crops on land they did not hold.

Which Dutch captain's ship Eendracht made the first European visit to Tonga in 1616?

Willem Schouten captained the Eendracht on the 1615-17 voyage that found the northern Tongan islands in 1616; Abel Tasman followed in 1643, visiting Tongatapu and Ha'apai.

How large is Tongatapu, the largest island and home of the capital?

257 square km: Tongatapu covers roughly 257 square km of flat, uplifted coral limestone and holds most of the population, including the capital on its northern lagoon shore.

Which airline collapsed after Tonga held a long-term charter on an unusable Boeing 757 stuck in Auckland?

Royal Tongan Airlines folded in 2004 after the government's long-term charter of a Boeing 757 that sat unusable in Auckland drained its finances; other ill-fated schemes included registering foreign ships and a cigarette factory for exports to China.

Roughly how much of downtown Nuku'alofa was destroyed in the pro-democracy riots of November 2006?

More than 60%: the rioters of 16 November 2006 burned and looted well over half of the capital's central business district before Tongan forces and an Australian-New Zealand task force restored order; many of the ruined shops were Chinese-owned.

In which city's hospital did King George Tupou V die of leukaemia in March 2012?

Hong Kong: George Tupou V died at Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong on 18 March 2012; his brother succeeded him as Tupou VI and was crowned on 4 July 2015.