- Population:
- 105,780
- Religion:
- Christianity
'Tonga is a Polynesian kingdom of more than 170 South Pacific islands many uninhabited most lined in white beaches and coral reefs and covered with tropical rainforest. The main island Tongatapu is protected by lagoons and limestone cliffs. It’s home to the rural capital of Nuku''alofa as well as beach resorts plantations and the Ha''amonga ʻa Maui a monumental coral gate from the 1200s.'
Tonga - unique among Pacific nations - never completely lost its indigenous governance. The archipelagos of \"The Friendly Islands\" were united into a Polynesian kingdom in 1845. Tonga became a constitutional monarchy in 1875 and a British protectorate in 1900; it withdrew from the protectorate and joined the Commonwealth of Nations in 1970. Tonga remains the only monarchy in the Pacific.
