Pangaimotu Island | |
|---|---|
Island | |
 Pangaimotu | |
 | |
| Coordinates: 18°41′S174°00′W / 18.683°S 174.000°W | |
| Country | Tonga |
| State | Vava'u |
| Group | Vava'u Group |
| Capital | Pangaimotu |
| Former seat | Utulei |
| Area | |
• Total | 9.17 km2 (3.54 sq mi) |
| Population (2021) | |
• Total | 696 |
| • Density | 76/km2 (200/sq mi) |
Pangaimotu is an island in the Vava'u Group of Tonga. It is reachable by a 5-minute boat trip from Neiafu, the capital of Vava'u. [1] The population is 696. [2] Tonga's first woman pilot, Silva McLeod was born here. [3]
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about 750 km2 (290 sq mi), scattered over 700,000 km2 (270,000 sq mi) in the southern Pacific Ocean. As of 2021, according to Johnson's Tribune, Tonga has a population of 104,494, 70% of whom reside on the main island, Tongatapu. The country stretches approximately 800 km north-south. It is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna (France) to the northwest, Samoa to the northeast, New Caledonia (France) and Vanuatu to the west, Niue to the east and Kermadec to the southwest. Tonga is about 1,800 km from New Zealand's North Island.
Located in Oceania, Tonga is a small archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, directly south of Samoa and about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand. It has 169 islands, 36 of them inhabited, which are in three main groups – Vavaʻu, Haʻapai, and Tongatapu – and cover an 800-kilometre (500-mile)-long north–south line. The total size is just 747 km2 (288 sq mi). Due to the spread out islands it has the 40th largest Exclusive Economic Zone of 659,558 km2 (254,657 sq mi).
Nukuʻalofa is the capital and largest city of Tonga. It is located on the north coast of the island of Tongatapu, in the country's southernmost island group.
George Tupou I, originally known as Tāufaʻāhau I, was the first king of modern Tonga. He adopted the name Siaosi, the Tongan equivalent of George, after King George III of the United Kingdom, when he was baptized in 1831. His nickname was Lopa-ukamea, meaning iron cable.
Vavaʻu is an island group, consisting of one large island and 40 smaller ones, in Tonga. It is part of Vavaʻu District, which includes several other individual islands. According to tradition, the Maui god created both Tongatapu and Vavaʻu, but put a little more effort into the former. Vavaʻu rises 204 m (669 ft) above sea level at Mount Talau. The capital is Neiafu, situated at the Port of Refuge.
Haʻapai is a group of islands, islets, reefs, and shoals in the central part of Tonga. It has a combined land area of 109.30 square kilometres (42.20 sq mi). The Tongatapu island group lies to its south, and the Vavaʻu group lies to its north. Seventeen of the Haʻapai islands are inhabited. Their combined population is 5,419. The highest point in the Ha‘apai group, and in all of Tonga, is on Kao, which rises almost 1,050 metres (3,440 ft) above sea level.
Peau Vavaʻu Ltd was an airline based at the Pacific Royale Hotel in Nukuʻalofa, Tongatapu, Tonga. It operated domestic services. Its main base was Fuaʻamotu International Airport, Tongatapu, with hubs at Lifuka Island Airport and Vavaʻu International Airport.
The Legislative Assembly of Tonga is the unicameral legislature of Tonga.
Neiafu is the second-largest town in Tonga with a population of 3,845 in 2021. It is situated beside the Port of Refuge, a deep-water harbour on the south coast of Vavaʻu, the main island of the Vavaʻu archipelago in northern Tonga. To the north-west lies the 131-metre high (430 ft) Mt. Talau with its distinctive flat top.
Vavaʻu International Airport, also known as Lupepauʻu International Airport, is an airport in Vavaʻu, Tonga. The airport is located 10 km (6.2 mi) north of the capital Neiafu.
Vaimalō, is a village in the western district of Vavaʻu in Tonga. The population is 114.
Tonga's economy is characterized by a large nonmonetary sector and a heavy dependence on remittances from the half of the country's population that lives abroad, chiefly in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Much of the monetary sector of the economy is dominated, if not owned, by the royal family and nobles. This is particularly true of the telecommunications and satellite services. Much of small business, particularly retailing on Tongatapu, is now dominated by recent Chinese immigrants who arrived under a cash-for-passports scheme that ended in 1998.
Niua is a division of the Kingdom of Tonga, namely the northernmost group of islands. It consists of three islands which together have an area of 71.69 km2 and a population of 1,150. The largest village is Hihifo on Niuatoputapu. Piu'o Tafahi is the highest point with an elevation of 560 m.
Tu'anuku is a village on the western part of Vava'u, Tonga. It has several nicknames such as Toa-ko-Tavakefai'ana, Halapukepuke, Hala-siki-'o-Mata'aho and also Uini-e-Ngofe. The population is 298.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Waka was one of the most destructive tropical cyclones ever to affect the nation of Tonga. Waka originated within the near-equatorial trough in mid-December 2001, although the system remained disorganized for more than a week. The storm gradually matured and attained tropical cyclone status on December 29, 2001. Subsequently, Waka underwent rapid intensification in which it attained its peak intensity as a Category 4 severe tropical cyclone on December 31, with winds of 185 km/h (115 mph). Shortly thereafter, it passed directly over Vavaʻu, Tonga, resulting in widespread damage. By January 1, 2002, the cyclone began to weaken as it underwent an extratropical transition. The remnants of Waka persisted for several more days and were last observed near the Southern Ocean on January 6, 2002.
Dr. Viliami Uasike Latu is a Tongan politician and Cabinet Minister.
Though it is no longer practised today, Tonga's ancient religion was practised for over 2,000 years, and some authors have characterised pre-contact Tonga as a theocracy. Christian missionaries arrived from the 1790s; they persuaded King George Tupou I to convert (1831) to Christianity. He ordered and strictly enforced that all Tongans become Christian and no longer practise the ancient polytheistic religion with its supreme god Tangaloa.
Vavaʻu is an electoral constituency which sends two representatives to the Legislative Assembly of Tonga. It covers the eponymous region and island chain.
Vavaʻu 16 is an electoral constituency for the Legislative Assembly in the Kingdom of Tonga. It was established for the November 2010 general election, when the multi-seat regional constituencies for People's Representatives were replaced by single-seat constituencies, electing one representative via the first past the post electoral system. Located in the Vavaʻu island group, it encompasses the villages of Ha’alaufuli, Ta’anea, Ha’akio, Houma, Mangia, Mataika, Feletoa, Leimatu’a, Tu’anekivale, and Holonga. It is one of three constituencies in Vavaʻu.
Constituencies of Tonga are used for elections to the Legislative Assembly of Tonga.
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