Tonga: Land, People, and Economy

	Site Map \| FAQ in Daily Almanac for Jul 26, 2008 Search White Pages
Skip Navigation Home 2008 Summer Olympics Atlas Encyclopedia Dictionary Thesaurus Features Quizzes Timelines Countries Campaign 2008

Fact Monster Kid's reference,
games, quizzes

Sponsored LinksTravel reviews & great deals at TripAdvisor:

Tonga (South Pacific)

Encyclopedia—Tonga

Land, People, and Economy

The more than 150 islands constitute three main groups: Tongatapu (seat of the capital) in the south, Vavau in the north, and Haapai in the center. Several of the islands are volcanic, with active craters, but most are coral atolls. The climate is tropical. The native Polynesians speak Tongan, a Polynesian language, and the majority are Christian (mainly Methodist). They grow subsistence crops and export copra and bananas. Because of compulsory primary education, the literacy rate is relatively high. Every male Tongan over the age of 16 is entitled to an allotment of land; but the shortage of land precludes a holding for many.

Sections in this article:

Introduction
Land, People, and Economy
History

Premium Partner Content

Related content from HighBeam Research on: Tonga: Land, People, and Economy

Polynesia in review: issues and events, 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1997. (Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Hawaii, Maori, Niue, Samoa,...... (The Contemporary Pacific)

Is there a Tongan middle class? Hierarchy and protest in contemporary Tonga. (The Contemporary Pacific)

Tonga's pro-democracy movement. (Pacific Affairs)

Consumption and Cosmopolitanism: Practicing Modernity at the Second-Hand Marketplace in Nuku'alofa, Tonga (Anthropological Quarterly)

Property, Propriety, and Ecology in Contemporary Tonga (Human Organization)

Tonga.(Country overview) (The Contemporary Pacific)

The Tonga-Speaking Peoples of Zambia and Zimbabwe: Essays in Honor of Elizabeth Colson (African Studies Review)

CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN THE GWEMBE TONGA FAMILY AND THEIR RELEVANCE TO DEMOGRAPHY'S NUCLEATION THESIS.(Statistical Data Included) (Africa)

Tonga. (Polynesia in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2001).(Brief Article) (The Contemporary Pacific)

Islanders of the South: Production, Kinship and Ideology in the Polynesian Kingdom of Tonga. (Oceania)

Infoplease Tools

Career Center

College Center

RSS •
About •
Contact •
Link to Us •
Advertise with Infoplease •
Terms of Use •
Privacy •
Related sites:
- Family Education •
- TeacherVision