Tonga

The only Pacific island nation never formally colonised, and the last Polynesian kingdom. Tonga was the centre of a maritime empire from around the tenth century, with the Tuʻi Tonga dynasty exercising influence over Fiji, Samoa, Niue and beyond - an unusual case of an indigenous Pacific state projecting power across a wide sea area. Civil war and the arrival of Methodist missionaries reshaped it in the nineteenth century, and Taufaʻahau, who took the name George Tupou I, unified the islands, converted, and in 1875 issued a constitution abolishing serfdom and guaranteeing every male commoner a plot of land. That charter, and skilful diplomacy playing Britain against Germany, is why Tonga became a protected state in 1900 rather than a colony, keeping its monarchy and internal government throughout. Full independence was resumed in 1970. Queen Salote reigned for forty-seven years and became internationally known for riding through the rain at Elizabeth II's coronation in an open carriage. The kingdom remained an absolute monarchy far longer than its neighbours; a pro-democracy movement grew from the 1980s, riots destroyed much of Nukuʻalofa in 2006, and constitutional reform in 2010 finally gave elected commoners a parliamentary majority. Land still cannot be sold to foreigners. The 2022 Hunga Tonga eruption was among the most violent ever recorded and severed the country's undersea cable. Nukuʻalofa is the capital, on Tongatapu. The country spans some hundred and seventy islands, about forty of them inhabited. Tonga sits directly west of the date line despite its longitude. The Haʻamonga ʻa Maui trilithon dates from around 1200.

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