by Donna Burgess

Created on: January 18, 2009   Last Updated: January 27, 2009

Overview

The Kingdom of Tonga, also widely known as the Jewel of the Pacific, is one of the most unspoiled and scenic of all the South Pacific Island Nations. The Kingdom is comprised of an archipelago of 171 islands, 48 of which are still uninhabited. With the only sovereign monarchy among the island nations of the Pacific, Tonga has the distinction of the being the only nation to have avoided formal colonization.

In the Polynesian language, the word "Tonga" means "South."

Ancient history

Many scholars believe the natives of Tonga originally came from the chain of island to the north known as Samoa and archaeological artifacts offer evidence that the islands have been settled since as far back as 500 B.C.

In 1616,the Dutch were the first Europeans to discover the Tongan Isles. Tongatapu, the main island was first visited by Abel Tasman, a Dutch explorer, in 1643. Continual contact with Europeans, however, did not begin until more than a century later, when Captain James Cook visited the islands. It was during his first visit that Tonga became known as the "Friendly Islands" because of the warm reception toward their European visitors.

In 1789, the famous mutiny on the British ship, Bounty, took place in the waters surrounding the Kingdom of Tonga.

Modern history

For most of the 20th Century, Tonga remained somewhat isolated from the developments taking place throughout the rest of the world. However, an increasingly pro-democracy movement has formed, demanding more rights for the common people of Tonga and curbing the influence of nobility.

Tonga's first official political party, the People's Democratic Party, was formed in 2005; its candidate was one of those elected to parliament in special May by-elections held to fill the two people's representational seats vacated by the king's cabinet appointments. This by-election also resulted in the election of the first woman to sit in the Tongan parliament in 24 years. When the princely prime minister resigned from office in early 2006, the king appointed People's Representative, Feleti Sevele, as the first commoner prime minister in modern times.

Culture

Tongan culture is quite diverse. Old beliefs have been abandoned in many cases, and new traditions adapted. People of modern Tonga have strong overseas ties and often migrate to seek employment. Traditional Tongan livelihoods include fishing and farming. Vanilla is one of the most important cash crops of the islands.

Tonga is also known as a land of unique arts and crafts,

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