The Kingdom of Tonga is a Polynesian country and archipelago comprising 169 islands, of which 36 are inhabited. Tonga became known in the West as the "Friendly Islands" because of the congenial reception accorded to Captain James Cook on his first visit in 1773. The country never relinquished its sovereignty to any foreign power.
Sunday 11 May -
Mother’s Day (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bonaire, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Dem. Rep., Congo, Rep., Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, Germany, Gabon, Gambia, Greenland, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Macau, Malaysia, Malta, Myanmar, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Singapore, Sint Maarten, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Vietnam, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe)
Humans have lived in Tonga for nearly 3,000 years, since settlement in late Lapita times.
Tonga is the only kingdom in the Pacific since Taufa’ahau (King George) in 1875 declared Tonga a constitutional monarchy, he also gave Tonga its first constitution.
Tonga has a population of 100,000 inhabitants (in 2016).
Almost two-thirds of Tonga’s population live on the main island Tongatapu, where also the capital city Nuku’alofa is located.
Spoken languages are Tongan and English (both official).