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The history of Tonga is recorded since the ninth century BC, when seafarers associated with the Lapita diaspora first settled the islands which now make up the Kingdom of Tonga. Along with Fiji and Samoa, the area served as a gateway into the rest of the Pacific region known as Polynesia. Ancient Tongan mythologies recorded by early European explorers report the islands of 'Ata and Tongatapu as the first islands having been hauled to the surface from the deep ocean by Maui.
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 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.
Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukuʻalofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% of the national population, on 260 square kilometres. Based on Google Earth Pro, its maximum elevation is at least 70 metres above sea level along Liku Road at 21 degrees 15 minutes and 55.7 seconds south 175 degrees 08 minutes 06.4 seconds west, but could be even higher somewhere else. Tongatapu is Tonga's centre of government and the seat of its monarchy.
Wallis is a Polynesian atoll/island in the Pacific Ocean belonging to the French overseas collectivity of Wallis and Futuna. It lies north of Tonga, northeast of Fiji, east-northeast of the Hoorn Islands, east of Fiji's Rotuma, southeast of Tuvalu, southwest of Tokelau and west of Samoa. Its area is almost 100 km2 (39 sq mi) with 8,333 people. Its capital is Matāʻutu. Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion. Its highest point is Mount Lulu Fakahega. Wallis is of volcanic origin with fertile soil and some remaining lakes. Rainfall is plentiful.
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.
ʻAta is a depopulated island in the far southern end of the Tonga archipelago, situated approximately 160 kilometres (99 mi) south-southwest of Tongatapu.
Lifuka Island Airport, also known as Salote Pilolevu Airport or Haʻapai Airport, is an airport on Lifuka in Tonga. The airport is located 5 km (3.1 mi) north of the capital Panga, and is only served domestically, roughly 40 minutes by flight to Tongatapu and 30 minutes to Vava'u. Taxis serve the airport, and services include a cafe inside the terminal.
Aleamotuʻa was the 18th Tu'i Kanokupolu of Tonga, the third lineage of Tongan Kings with the political and military power who ruled in support of the Tu'i Tonga.
Haʻano is an island in the Haʻapai islands of Tonga. To the south are the islands of Foa and Lifuka.
Nukuleka is a small fishing village on the north-east coast of the island of Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga. In January 2008, Canadian archaeologist David V. Burley claimed that it was the "cradle of Polynesia".
Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai is a submarine volcano in the South Pacific located about 30 km (19 mi) south of the submarine volcano of Fonuafoʻou and 65 km (40 mi) north of Tongatapu, Tonga's main island. It is part of the highly active Kermadec-Tonga subduction zone and its associated volcanic arc, which extends from New Zealand north-northeast to Fiji, and is formed by the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Indo-Australian Plate. It lies about 100 km (62 mi) above a very active seismic zone.
The early history of Tonga covers the islands' settlement and the early Lapita culture through to the rise of the Tuʻi Tonga Empire.
Mata’uvave was the name given to a dynasty of male chiefs presiding over the Ha’apai Island Group of Tonga from the 15th century until the mid-1980s. The first Mata’uvave was appointed to a gubernatorial role by Tu’i Tonga Kau’ulufonua I to increase the Tu’i Tonga’s control over Ha’apai. The first few generations of the title subdued several islands in northern Ha’apai and undertook several major building projects, most notably pigeon mounds, the Huluipaongo burial mound, and the Velata fortress. Within a few generations the Mata’uvave attempted to rule independently, antagonizing the authority of chiefs in Tongatapu and causing a confrontation that the Mata’uvave eventually lost. They were relegated to a line of nobility called ‘eiki si’i, or “a minor chief without importance.”
Pigeon snaring was sport played exclusively by Tongan chiefs atop artificial mounds. The appearance of these mounds began in the twelfth century but its popularity waned after centuries. By the 1700s, when Europeans began visiting Tonga and recording their observations, the sport was no longer played regularly. By the early 1800s, it was not played at all.
Tongoenas, also known as the Tongan giant pigeon, is an extinct genus of giant pigeon that grew up to 51 centimetres (20 in) long that was once native to the islands of Tonga. It had existed as a genus for at least 60,000 years, and went extinct around 850-600 BCE. The type species and only known species, T. burleyi, was named in 2020 based on subfossil remains.
On 20 December 2021, an eruption began on Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai, a submarine volcano in the Tongan archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean. The eruption reached a very large and powerful climax nearly four weeks later, on 15 January 2022. Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai is 65 km (40 mi) north of Tongatapu, the country's main island, and is part of the highly active Tonga–Kermadec Islands volcanic arc, a subduction zone extending from New Zealand north-northeast to Fiji. In the Volcanic Explosivity Index scale, the eruption was rated at least a VEI-5.
Mango is a small island in Tonga, 9 kilometres south-east of the larger island of Nomuka, and part of the Nomuka or ʻOtu Muʻomuʻa group of islands, which are the southern part of the Haʻapai group. Mango had a population of 62 in the 2021 census.
References
- 1 2 David V. Burley, Tongan Archaeology and the Tongan Past, The Journal of World Prehistory, Vol. 12, No. 3 (September 1998), pp. 337–392
- 1 2 David V. Burley, Sport, Status, and Field Monuments in the Polynesian Chiefdom of Tonga: The Pigeon Snaring Mounds of Northern Ha'apai, The Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 23, No.4 (Winter, 1996), pp. 421–435
Coordinates: 19°50′56″S174°24′16″W / 19.84889°S 174.40444°W
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