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Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. As of 2021, according to Johnson's Tribune, Tonga has a population of 104,494, 70% of whom reside on the main island, Tongatapu. The country stretches approximately north-south. It is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna (France) to the northwest; Samoa to the northeast; New Caledonia (France) and Vanuatu to the west; Niue (the nearest foreign territory) to the east; and Kermadec (New Zealand) to the southwest. Tonga is about from New Zealand's North Island. First inhabited roughly 2,500 years ago by the Lapita civilization, Tonga's Polynesian settlers gradually evolved a distinct and strong ethnic identity, language, and culture as the Tongan people. They were quick to establish a powerful footing acros ...
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Prime Minister Of Tonga
The prime minister of Tonga (historically referred to as the premier) is the country's head of government. Tonga is a monarchy with the king, currently Tupou VI, former prime minister, as head of state. The current prime minister is Siaosi Sovaleni, who was elected on 15 December 2021 and appointed on 27 December 2021. Sovaleni was elected with 16 votes. The office of prime minister was established by the Constitution of 1875, whose article 51 stipulates that the prime minister and other ministers are appointed and dismissed by the king. The prime minister is assisted by the deputy prime minister. 2000s democratization During the 2000s, the country experienced an increase in democratization. In March 2006, King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV appointed Feleti Sevele, a moderate member of the Human Rights and Democracy Movement, as prime minister. Sevele was the first commoner to hold this post since Shirley Waldemar Baker in 1881. All the prime ministers since Baker had been members ...
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Tongoa
Tongoa Island is an inhabited island in Shefa Province of Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean. Geography Tongoa is the largest island of Shepherd Islands archipelago. The island is heavily vegetated and shows geothermal activity. Tongoa is of recent volcanic origin but currently has no currently active volcano. There are numerous volcanic cones on the island and some black sand beaches. The estimated terrain elevation above the sea level is some 191 metres. There is an airport on the island – Tongoa Airport (TGH). Flora and fauna The interior part of the island is dense rain forest. The island is named after the Tongoa plant which grows in the area. Megapodes nest on the island. The only non-human mammals on the island are the Vanuatu flying fox and Tonga leather, or insular flying fox. Important Bird Area The island has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports populations of Vanuatu megapodes, red-bellied fruit doves, grey-eared ...
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Independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of a dependent territory. The commemoration of the independence day of a country or nation celebrates when a country is free from all forms of foreign colonialism; free to build a country or nation without any interference from other nations. Definition of independence Whether the attainment of independence is different from revolution has long been contested, and has often been debated over the question of violence as legitimate means to achieving sovereignty. In general, revolutions aim only to redistribute power with or without an element of emancipation,such as in democratization ''within'' a state, which as such may remain unaltered. For example, the Mexican Revolution (1910) chiefly refers to a multi-factional conflict that e ...
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Baha'i Faith
Baha (also transliterated as Bahaa, ar, بهاء) may refer to: People * Baha (name) Places *Al Bahah, a city in Saudi Arabia Trademark * Cochlear Baha, a hearing aid manufactured by Cochlear Title * Al-Muqtana Baha'uddin (979–1043), Druze religious leader * Bahá'u'lláh (1817–1892), religious leader of a world religion from Iran See also *Baháʼí Faith, a religion *BAHA (other) Baha (also transliterated as Bahaa, ar, بهاء) may refer to: People * Baha (name) Places *Al Bahah, a city in Saudi Arabia Trademark *Cochlear Baha, a hearing aid manufactured by Cochlear Title *Al-Muqtana Baha'uddin (979–1043), Druze re ... * Baja (other) {{Disambiguation, geo, surname Arabic-language surnames Arabic masculine given names Turkish masculine given names ...
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Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χριστός), a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term ''mashiach'' (מָשִׁיחַ) (usually rendered as ''messiah'' in English). While there are diverse interpretations of Christianity which sometimes conflict, they are united in believing that Jesus has a unique significance. The term ''Christian'' used as an adjective is descriptive of anything associated with Christianity or Christian churches, or in a proverbial sense "all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like." It does not have a meaning of 'of Christ' or 'related or pertaining to Christ'. According to a 2011 Pew Research Center survey, there were 2.2 billion Christians around the world in 2010, up from about 600 million in 1910. Today, about 37% of all Christians live in the Am ...
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Catholic Church In Tonga
The Catholic Church in Tonga is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the leadership of its local bishop in communion with the Bishop of Rome. It is estimated that approximately 16% of the population of the Pacific island Kingdom are Catholic, being 15,767 in 2004. Bishop Soane Patita Paini Mafi succeeded as Bishop of Tonga in 2008. History Prior to the arrival of European sailors and missionaries, the islands of Tonga practised an animistic Polynesian religion. Responsibility for Oceania was given by the Catholic Church to the Society of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in 1825; but the territory was judged to be too large, and the western portion was formed into a vicariate Apostolic and given to the Society of Mary in 1836, with Mgr Jean Baptiste Pompallier (1807–1871) appointed vicar Apostolic of Western Oceania. In 1842, the vicariate Apostolic of Central Oceania was created comprising New Caledonia, Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji. A later subdivision, reduced the ...
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Mormonism
Mormonism is the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to various aspects of the Latter Day Saint movement, although there has been a recent push from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to distance themselves from this label. A historian, Sydney E. Ahlstrom, wrote in 1982, "One cannot even be sure, whether ormonismis a sect, a mystery cult, a new religion, a church, a people, a nation, or an American subculture; indeed, at different times and places it is all of these." However, scholars and theologians within the Latter Day Saint movement, including Smith, have often used "Mormonism" to describe the unique teachings and doctrines of the movement. A prominent feature of Mormon theology is the Book of Mormon, which describes itself as a chronicle of early indigenous peoples of the Americas ...
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Methodism
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother Charles Wesley were also significant early leaders in the movement. They were named ''Methodists'' for "the methodical way in which they carried out their Christian faith". Methodism originated as a revival movement within the 18th-century Church of England and became a separate denomination after Wesley's death. The movement spread throughout the British Empire, the United States, and beyond because of vigorous missionary work, today claiming approximately 80 million adherents worldwide. Wesleyan theology, which is upheld by the Methodist churches, focuses on sanctification and the transforming effect of faith on the character of a Christian. Distinguishing doctrines include the new birth, assurance, imparted righteousness, ...
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Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global population. Its adherents, known as Christians, are estimated to make up a majority of the population in 157 countries and territories, and believe that Jesus is the Son of God, whose coming as the messiah was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (called the Old Testament in Christianity) and chronicled in the New Testament. Christianity began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the 1st century Hellenistic Judaism in the Roman province of Judea. Jesus' apostles and their followers spread around the Levant, Europe, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, the South Caucasus, Ancient Carthage, Egypt, and Ethiopia, despite significant initial persecution. It soon attracted gentile God-fearers, which led to a departure from Jewish customs, and, a ...
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+676
Country Code: +676 International Call Prefix: 00 yy xxx Calls inside Tonga +676 yy xxx Calls from outside Tonga List of area codes in Tonga Additionally, mobile phones provided by U-Call Mobile are prefixed by the two-digit code of either 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19. See also * Telecommunications in Tonga References Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ... Communications in Tonga {{Telephonenumber-stub ...
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Tongan Paʻanga
The paanga is the currency of Tonga. It is controlled by the National Reserve Bank of Tonga (''Pangikē Pule Fakafonua o Tonga'') in Nukualofa. The paanga is not convertible and is pegged to a basket of currencies comprising the Australian, New Zealand, and United States dollars and the Japanese yen. The paanga is subdivided into 100 ''seniti.'' The ISO code is TOP, and the usual abbreviation is T$ (¢ for seniti). In Tonga, the paanga is often referred to in English as the dollar, the seniti as the cent and the hau as the union. There is also the unit of hau (1 hau = 100 paanga), but this is not used in everyday life and can be found only on commemorative coins of higher denominations. Etymology ''Paanga'' is the Tongan name for ''Entada phaseoloides'', also called the box bean or St. Thomas's bean, a bean-like vine producing large pods with large reddish-brown seeds. The seeds are roundish, up to 5 cm diameter and 1 or 2 cm thick. When strung together they are used ...
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United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. Headquartered in New York City, it is the largest UN development aid agency, with offices in 170 countries. The UNDP emphasizes developing local capacity towards long-term self-sufficiency and prosperity. It administers projects to attract investment, technical training, and technological development, and provides experts to help build legal and political institutions and expand the private sector. The UNDP operates in 177 countries and is funded entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states. Also, UNDP is governed by a 36-member executive board overseen by an administrator, who is third-highest ranking UN official after the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General. Founding The UNDP was founded on 22 Nove ...
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