]! ^! The archipelago of "The Friendly Islands" was united into a Polynesian kingdom in 1845. It became a constitutional monarchy in 1875 and a British protectorate in 1900. Tonga acquired its independence in 1970 and became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. It remains the only monarchy in the Pacific. 
]" ^" Oceania, archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand ^# 20 00 S, 175 00 W ^$ Oceania ^% `! 748 sq km `" 718 sq km `# 30 sq km ^& four times the size of Washington, DC ^' 0 km ^( 419 km ^) `$ 12 nm `I 200 nm `J 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation ^* tropical; modified by trade winds; warm season (December to May), cool season (May to December) ^+ most islands have limestone base formed from uplifted coral formation; others have limestone overlying volcanic base ^, `% Pacific Ocean 0 m `& unnamed location on Kao Island 1,033 m ^- fish, fertile soil ^. `' 23.61% `( 43.06% `) 33.33% (2001) ^/ NA ^0 cyclones (October to April); earthquakes and volcanic activity on Fonuafo'ou ^1 deforestation results as more and more land is being cleared for agriculture and settlement; some damage to coral reefs from starfish and indiscriminate coral and shell collectors; overhunting threatens native sea turtle populations _J `K Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution `L none of the selected agreements ^2 archipelago of 169 islands (36 inhabited) 
]# ^3 112,422 (July 2005 est.) ^4 `* 36.2% (male 20,738/female 19,907) `+ 59.7% (male 33,226/female 33,853) `, 4.2% (male 2,031/female 2,667) (2005 est.) ^5 `! 20.46 years `- 19.93 years `. 21.02 years (2005 est.) ^6 1.98% (2005 est.) ^7 25.18 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^8 5.35 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^9 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^: `/ 1.05 male(s)/female `0 1.04 male(s)/female `+ 0.98 male(s)/female `, 0.76 male(s)/female `1 0.99 male(s)/female (2005 est.) ^; `! 12.62 deaths/1,000 live births `- 13.97 deaths/1,000 live births `. 11.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) ^< `1 69.53 years `- 67.05 years `. 72.14 years (2005 est.) ^= 3 children born/woman (2005 est.) ^> NA ^? NA ^@ NA ^A `2 Tongan(s) `3 Tongan ^B Polynesian, Europeans about 300 ^C Christian (Free Wesleyan Church claims over 30,000 adherents) ^D Tongan, English ^E `M can read and write Tongan and/or English `1 98.9% `- 98.8% `. 99% (1996 est.) 
]$ ^F `4 Kingdom of Tonga `5 Tonga `X Friendly Islands ^H hereditary constitutional monarchy ^I Nuku'alofa ^J 3 island groups; Ha'apai, Tongatapu, Vava'u ^K 4 June 1970 (from UK protectorate) ^L Emancipation Day, 4 June (1970) ^M 4 November 1875; revised 1 January 1967 ^N based on English law ^O 21 years of age; universal ^P `6 King Taufa'ahau TUPOU IV (since 16 December 1965) `7 Prime Minister Prince Lavaka ata ULUKALALA (since 3 January 2000) and Deputy Prime Minister James C. COCKER (since NA January 2001) `8 cabinet consists of 16 members, 12 appointed by the monarch for life; 4 appointed from among the elected members of the Legislative Assembly including 2 each from the Nobles and Peoples representatives serving three year terms note: there is also a Privy Council that consists of the monarch, the Cabinet, and two governors `9 none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed for life by the monarch ^Q unicameral Legislative Assembly or Fale Alea (30 seats - 12 reserved for cabinet ministers sitting ex officio, nine for nobles selected by the country's 33 nobles, and nine elected by popular vote; members serve three-year terms) `9 last held 21 March 2005 (next to be held in 2008) `: Peoples Representatives: percent of vote - HRDMT 70%; seats - HRDMT 7, independents 2 ^R Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal (consists of the Privy Council with the addition of the chief justice of the Supreme Court) ^S there are no political parties ^T Human Rights and Democracy Movement Tonga or HRDMT [Rev. Simote VEA, chairman] ^U ACP, AsDB, C, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer) ^V `N Ambassador Fekitamoeloa 'UTOIKAMANU `O 250 East 51st Street, New York, NY 10022 `P [1] (917) 369-1025 `Q [1] (917) 369-1024 `R San Francisco ^W the US does not have an embassy in Tonga; the ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Tonga ^X red with a bold red cross on a white rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner 
]% ^Y Tonga, a small, open, South Pacific island economy, has a narrow export base in agricultural goods. Squash, coconuts, bananas, and vanilla beans are the main crops, and agricultural exports make up two-thirds of total exports. The country must import a high proportion of its food, mainly from New Zealand. Tourism is the second largest source of hard currency earnings following remittances. The country remains dependent on external aid and remittances from Tongan communities overseas to offset its trade deficit. The government is emphasizing the development of the private sector, especially the encouragement of investment, and is committing increased funds for health and education. Tonga has a reasonably sound basic infrastructure and well-developed social services. High unemployment among the young, a continuing upturn in inflation, and rising civil service expenditures are major issues facing the government. ^Z $244 million (2002 est.) ^[ 1.5% (2002 est.) ^\ purchasing power parity - $2,300 (2002 est.) ^] `; 23% `< 13% `= 64% (2002 est.) ^^ 33,910 (1996) ^_ agriculture 65% (1997 est.) ^` 13.3% (1996 est.) ^a NA _! `> NA `? NA _" 10.3% (2002 est.) _# `@ $39.9 million `A $52.4 million, including capital expenditures of $1.9 million (FY99/00 est.) _$ squash, coconuts, copra, bananas, vanilla beans, cocoa, coffee, ginger, black pepper; fish _% tourism, fishing _& 8.6% (FY98/99) _' 24.79 million kWh (2002) _( 23.06 million kWh (2002) _) 0 kWh (2002) _* 0 kWh (2002) _+ 0 bbl/day (2001 est.) _, 1,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) _- NA _. NA _/ $27 million f.o.b. (2002 est.) _0 squash, fish, vanilla beans, root crops _1 Japan 37.1%, China 18.7%, US 17.7%, Taiwan 8.7%, New Zealand 7.4% (2004) _2 $86 million f.o.b. (2002 est.) _3 foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, fuels, chemicals _4 New Zealand 37.1%, Fiji 24.3%, Australia 9.1%, China 8.9%, US 6.3% (2004) _5 $63.4 million (2001) _6 Australia $5.5 million, New Zealand $2.3 million (FY01/02) _7 pa'anga (TOP) _8 pa'anga per US dollar - 1.9716 (2004), 2.142 (2003), 2.1952 (2002), 2.1236 (2001), 1.7585 (2000) _9 1 July - 30 June 
]& _: 11,200 (2002) _; 9,000 (2004) _< `B competition between Tonga Telecommunications Corporation (TCC) and Shoreline Communications Tonga (SCT) is accelerating expansion of telecommunications; SCT recently granted authority to develop high-speed digital service for telephone, Internet, and television `C fully automatic switched network `D country code - 676; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) (2004) _= AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 1 (2004) _> 3 (2004) _? .to _@ 18,906 (2003) _A 2,900 (2002) 
]' _B `! 680 km `E 184 km `F 496 km (1999 est.) _C Nuku'alofa _K `! 29 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 136,977 GRT/200,751 DWT by type: cargo 21, chemical tanker 1, liquefied gas 2, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 1, vehicle carrier 1 `S 7 (Cyprus 1, France 1, Greece 1, Norway 1, Romania 2, United Kingdom 1) (2005) _D 6 (2004 est.) _E `! 1 `G 1 (2004 est.) _L `! 5 `^ 1 `_ 3 `T 1 (2004 est.) 
]( _F Tonga Defense Services: Ground Forces (Royal Marines, Royal Guard), Maritime Force (includes Air Wing) _M 18 years of age (est.) (2004) _N NA _O NA 
]) _H none 