Loading ...COUNTRY OVERVIEW –> General Information
GEOGRAPHY:
located between:
latitudes 15S and 23.5 S
Longitude 173W and 177W
MAP:
Land Area: 699sq. km
Sea Area: 700,000sq.km, 171 total number of islands; 36 are inhabited
POPULATION:
Total number of population: 101,134 (pre.2006)
- Population is spread over the four main islands of Tongatapu, Vava’u, Ha’apai and Niua.
- Bulk of the population resides in the main island of Tongatapu.
- Tongatapu is the biggest island where the capital Nuku’alofa is located.
- This is where the central government administration is located.
CLIMATE:
Temperature ranges between:
- 18-25 degrees C (64 – 77 degrees F) during March – September and24-32 degrees C (75 – 90 degrees F) between October – April.
Trade winds:
- blow constant 13 – 18 knots all year round.
Average rainfall:
- 1775.5mm
Mean annual temperature in Nuku’alofa
- 24.7 degrees with a mean humidity of 76.9 degrees.
MONEY:
The local currency is the Tonga Pa’anga. One pa’anga is equal to 100 seniti. Notes are in denominations of 50, 20, 20, 5 and 1 Pa’anga. Coins are in denominations of 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 seniti.
RELIGION:
The major dominant religion in Tonga is Christianity with certain denominations such as the Free Wesleyan which is the dominant body, Catholic, Free Church of Tonga, Anglican, Seventh Days Adventist and Latter Day Saints.
COMMUNICATION:
Tonga has access to internationally owned communications through the installation of satellite system. Access to the communications systems, including telephone, facsimile e-mail, telex telegraph and websites are readily available. A radio broadcasting service operates in Nuku’alofa on the call sign A3Z and other FM stations. Weekly newspapers are also available locally: The Tongan Chronicle, The Times of Tonga, Talaki, Kele’a. Magazines called Matangi Tonga and Tongan Women Magazine are bi-monthly.
SHIPPING:
International shipping services link to Tonga through the port of Nuku’alofa with Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand, Australia, USA, Japan and Europe.
Internally, Peau Vava’u Airlines provide daily services to the outer islands. Please refer to www.peauvavau.to for further details of domestic flights. International flights also operate in Tonga. They include Air New Zealand, Air Pacific and Pacific Blue Airlines. Details for each weekly schedule can be viewed on the following links:-
