Tonga – a Pacific kingdom that was never colonised
The islands of Tonga were settled about 3,000 years ago by people of the Lapita culture, seafarers whose descendants became the Polynesians. Over the centuries a powerful chiefly society developed under the Tuʻi Tonga, a line of sacred paramount rulers. At its height, around the 12th to 13th centuries, Tongan influence reached across parts of the western Pacific, and impressive monuments such as the Haʻamonga ʻa Maui trilithon and the royal tombs bear witness to this era. Over time power was shared with other lines of chiefs.
Europeans arrived from the 17th century onwards: Dutch navigators in 1616 and 1643, and James Cook in the 1770s, who called the islands the "Friendly Islands". Methodist missionaries followed in the early 19th century. After a period of civil wars, the chief Tāufaʻāhau united the islands and became King George Tupou I, founding the dynasty that still reigns. He introduced a written law code, and in 1875 Tonga received a constitution that also protected land ownership for Tongans.
In 1900 Tonga became a British protected state, but it retained its monarchy and internal self-government and was never formally colonised. Queen Sālote Tupou III, who reigned from 1918 to 1965, became widely beloved. Tonga regained full independence in 1970 and joined the Commonwealth. Democratic reforms in 2010 gave elected representatives a greater role, and the islands have repeatedly had to cope with natural disasters, including the volcanic eruption and tsunami of 2022.
Today Tonga is shaped by its monarchy, its Christian faith, strong family ties and a proud Polynesian culture.
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