"text":"Tonga - unique among Pacific nations - never completely lost its indigenous governance. The archipelagos of \"The Friendly Islands\" were united into a Polynesian kingdom in 1845. Tonga became a constitutional monarchy in 1875 and a British protectorate in 1900; it withdrew from the protectorate and joined the Commonwealth of Nations in 1970. Tonga remains the only monarchy in the Pacific; in 2008, King George TUPOU V announced he was relinquishing most of his powers leading up to parliamentary elections in 2010. TUPOU died in 2012 and was succeeded by his brother 'Aho'eitu TUPOU VI. Tropical Cyclone Gita, the strongest-ever recorded storm to impact Tonga, hit the islands in February 2018 causing extensive damage."
}
},
"Geography":{
"Location":{
"text":"Oceania, archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand"
"text":"<p>cyclones (October to April); earthquakes and volcanic activity on Fonuafo'ou</p><p><strong>volcanism:</strong> moderate volcanic activity; Fonualei (180 m) has shown frequent activity in recent years, while Niuafo'ou (260 m), which last erupted in 1985, has forced evacuations; other historically active volcanoes include Late and Tofua</p>"
"text":"deforestation from land being cleared for agriculture and settlement; soil exhaustion; water pollution due to salinization, sewage, and toxic chemicals from farming activities; coral reefs and marine populations threatened"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"none of the selected agreements"
}
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"the western islands (making up the Tongan Volcanic Arch) are all of volcanic origin; the eastern islands are nonvolcanic and are composed of coral limestone and sand"
"text":"Tongan and English 76.8%, Tongan, English, and other language 10.6%, Tongan only (official) 8.7%, English only (official) 0.7%, other 1.7%, none 2.2% (2016 est.)",
"note":"<p><strong>note:</strong> data represent persons aged 5 and older who can read and write a simple sentence in Tongan, English, or another language</p>"
"text":"Protestant 64.1% (includes Free Wesleyan Church 35%, Free Church of Tonga 11.9%, Church of Tonga 6.8%, Assembly of God 2.3%, Seventh Day Adventist 2.2%, Tokaikolo Christian Church 1.6%, other 4.3%), Mormon 18.6%, Roman Catholic 14.2%, other 2.4%, none 0.5%, unspecified 0.1% (2016 est.)"
"note":"<br><br><strong>etymology:</strong> composed of the words \"nuku,\" meaning \"residence or abode,\" and \"alofa,\" meaning \"love,\" to signify \"abode of love\""
"text":"5 island divisions; 'Eua, Ha'apai, Ongo Niua, Tongatapu, Vava'u"
},
"Independence":{
"text":"4 June 1970 (from UK protectorate status)"
},
"National holiday":{
"text":"Official Birthday of King TUPOU VI, 4 July (1959); note - actual birthday of the monarch is 12 July 1959, 4 July (2015) is the day the king was crowned; Constitution Day (National Day), 4 November (1875)"
},
"Constitution":{
"history":{
"text":"adopted 4 November 1875"
},
"amendments":{
"text":"proposed by the Legislative Assembly; passage requires approval by the Assembly in each of three readings, the unanimous approval of the Privy Council (a high-level advisory body to the monarch), the Cabinet, and assent to by the monarch; revised 1988; amended many times, last in 2016"
}
},
"Legal system":{
"text":"English common law"
},
"International law organization participation":{
"text":"has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt"
},
"Citizenship":{
"citizenship by birth":{
"text":"no"
},
"citizenship by descent only":{
"text":"the father must be a citizen of Tonga; if a child is born out of wedlock, the mother must be a citizen of Tonga"
},
"dual citizenship recognized":{
"text":"yes"
},
"residency requirement for naturalization":{
"text":"5 years"
}
},
"Suffrage":{
"text":"21 years of age; universal"
},
"Executive branch":{
"chief of state":{
"text":"King TUPOU VI (since 18 March 2012); Heir Apparent Crown Prince Siaosi Manumataogo 'Alaivahamama'o 'Ahoeitu Konstantin Tuku'aho, son of the king (born 17 September 1985); note - on 18 March 2012, King George TUPOU V died and his brother, Crown Prince TUPOUTO'A Lavaka, assumed the throne as TUPOU VI"
},
"head of government":{
"text":"Prime Minister Pohiva TU'I'ONETOA (since 27 September 2019)"
},
"cabinet":{
"text":"Cabinet nominated by the prime minister and appointed by the monarch"
},
"elections/appointments":{
"text":"the monarchy is hereditary; prime minister and deputy prime minister indirectly elected by the Legislative Assembly and appointed by the monarch; election last held on 27 September 2019 (next to be held in November 2020)"
},
"election results":{
"text":"Pohiva TU'I'ONETOA (Peoples Party) elected prime minister by parliament receiving 15of 23 votes cast"
"text":"unicameral Legislative Assembly or Fale Alea (up to 30 seats; - 26 for the 2017-19 term); 17 people's representatives directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote, and 9 indirectly elected by hereditary leaders; members serve 3-year terms)"
},
"elections":{
"text":"last held on 16 November 2017 (next to be held in 2020)"
"text":"percent of vote - NA; seats by party - Democratic Party 14, nobles' representatives 9, independent 3; composition - men 24, women 2, percent of women 7.7%"
"text":"Court of Appeal (consists of the court president and a number of judges determined by the monarch); note - appeals beyond the Court of Appeal are brought before the King in Privy Council, the monarch's advisory organ that has both judicial and legislative powers"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"judge appointments and tenures made by the King in Privy Council and subject to consent of the Legislative Assembly"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"Supreme Court; Magistrates' Courts; Land Courts"
"text":"Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands [Samuela 'Akilisi POHIVA]<br />People's Democratic Party or PDP [Tesina FUKO]<br />Sustainable Nation-Building Party [Sione FONUA]<br />Tonga Democratic Labor Party<br />Tonga Human Rights and Democracy Movement or THRDM"
"text":"red with a bold red cross on a white rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner; the cross reflects the deep-rooted Christianity in Tonga, red represents the blood of Christ and his sacrifice, and white signifies purity"
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"red cross on white field, arms equal length; national colors: red, white"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"Ko e fasi `o e tu\"i `o e `Otu Tonga\" (Song of the King of the Tonga Islands)"
},
"lyrics/music":{
"text":"Uelingatoni Ngu TUPOUMALOHI/Karl Gustavus SCHMITT"
"text":"<p>Tonga has a small, open island economy and is the last constitutional monarchy among the Pacific Island countries. It has a narrow export base in agricultural goods. Squash, vanilla beans, and yams are the main crops. Agricultural exports, including fish, make up two-thirds of total exports. Tourism is the second-largest source of hard currency earnings following remittances. Tonga had 53,800 visitors in 2015. The country must import a high proportion of its food, mainly from New Zealand.</p><p></p><p>The country remains dependent on external aid and remittances from overseas Tongans to offset its trade deficit. The government is emphasizing the development of the private sector, encouraging investment, and is committing increased funds for health care and education. Tonga's English-speaking and educated workforce offers a viable labor market, and the tropical climate provides fertile soil. Renewable energy and deep-sea mining also offer opportunities for investment.</p><p></p><p>Tonga has a reasonably sound basic infrastructure and well developed social services. But the government faces high unemployment among the young, moderate inflation, pressures for democratic reform, and rising civil service expenditures.</p>"
"text":"high speed Internet provided by 3 MNOs, has subsequently allowed for better health care services, faster connections for education and growing e-commerce services; in 2018 new 4G LTE network; fixed-line teledensity has dropped given mobile subscriptions; mobile technology dominates given the island's geography; satellite technology is widespread and is important especially in areas away from the city; the launch in 2019 of the Kacific-1 broadband satellite has made broadband more widely available for around 89 remote communities (2020)"
},
"domestic":{
"text":"fixed-line 6 per 100 persons and mobile-cellular teledensity 59 telephones per 100; fully automatic switched network (2019)"
},
"international":{
"text":"country code - 676; landing point for the Tonga Cable and the TDCE connecting to Fiji and 3 separate Tonga islands; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) (2020)"
"note":"<br><br><strong>note:</strong> the COVID-19 outbreak is negatively impacting telecommunications production and supply chains globally; consumer spending on telecom devices and services has also slowed due to the pandemic's effect on economies worldwide; overall progress towards improvements in all facets of the telecom industry - mobile, fixed-line, broadband, submarine cable and satellite - has moderated"
"text":"1 state-owned TV station and 3 privately owned TV stations; satellite and cable TV services are available; 1 state-owned and 5 privately owned radio stations; Radio Australia broadcasts available via satellite (2019)"
"text":"Tonga Defense Services: Joint Force headquarters, Territorial Forces, Land Force, Tonga Navy, Training Wing, Air Wing, and Support Unit (2020)"
},
"Military and security service personnel strengths":{
"text":"the Tonga Defense Services have approximately 500 personnel (2020)"
},
"Military equipment inventories and acquisitions":{
"text":"the Tonga military's inventory includes mostly light weapons and equipment from European (primarily the UK) countries and the US, as well as naval patrol vessels from Australia; Australia is the only supplier of military systems since 2010 (2019)"
},
"Military service age and obligation":{
"text":"Volunteers, 18-25; no conscription (2014)"
