Niua is a
division
Division or divider may refer to:
Mathematics
*Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication
*Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division
Military
*Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...
of the
Kingdom of 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 ...
, namely the northernmost group of islands. It consists of three islands (
Niuafoʻou,
Niuatoputapu
Niuatoputapu is a high island in the island nation of Tonga, Pacific Ocean. Its highest point is , and its area is . Its name means ''sacred island''. Older European names for the island are Traitors Island or Keppel Island.
Niuatoputapu i ...
and
Tafahi
Tafahi is a small () island in the north of the Tonga archipelago, in fact closer to Savaii (Samoa) than to the main islands of Tonga. It is only north-northeast away from Niuatoputapu, and fishermen commute in small outboard motorboats almost d ...
) which together have an area of 71.69 km
2 and a population of 1,150. The largest village is
Hihifo
Hihifo is the main village on the island of Niuatoputapu in the Kingdom of Tonga. Hihifo (which means 'west' in the Tongan language) is situated on the west side of Niuatoputapu and is the main centre for public and government facilities that se ...
on
Niuatoputapu
Niuatoputapu is a high island in the island nation of Tonga, Pacific Ocean. Its highest point is , and its area is . Its name means ''sacred island''. Older European names for the island are Traitors Island or Keppel Island.
Niuatoputapu i ...
.
Piu'o Tafahi is the highest point with an
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vertic ...
of 560 m.
Geography
The islands lie at approximately 15° south latitude and 175° to 173° west longitude, approximately 600km north of the Tongan capital of
Nukuʻalofa
Nukualofa (; ) is the capital and largest city of Tonga. It is located on the north coast of the island of Tongatapu, in the country's southernmost island group.
History
First western records of Nukualofa
On 10 June 1777, British captain James ...
, 300 - 375 km northwest of
Vavaʻu
Vavau is an island group, consisting of one large island ( ʻUtu Vavaʻu) and 40 smaller ones, in Tonga. It is part of Vavaʻu District, which includes several other individual islands. According to tradition, the Maui god created both Tongatap ...
, and 320 - 470 km south or southwest of
Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...
.
Niuafoʻou is geographically separated from the other islands, lying 200km to the west. The total area of the islands is .
Climate
The islands have a
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
climate, with a mean temperature of and a mean annual rainfall of (Niuafoʻou) or (Niuatoputapu).
Geology
The islands are the peaks of undersea
volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
es, towering from the sea. Niuatoputapu and Tafahi lie on the Tofua volcanic arc, and are not active. Niuafoʻou lies at the center of the
Niuafo'ou Plate and has erupted regularly since 1814.
There are other volcanoes in this part of the Tofua chain which do not reach sea level, but form
seamount
A seamount is a large geologic landform that rises from the ocean floor that does not reach to the water's surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abr ...
s with between 1200 and 1500m of water above their peaks. This includes the Mata group, the
Curacoa volcano
Curacoa is a submarine volcano located south of the Curacoa Reef in northern Tonga. The reef is 24fm North of Tafahi in the Niua Islands. Eruptions were observed in 1973 and 1979 from two separate vents. The 1973 eruption produced a large r ...
, and the large submarine caldera
Niuatahi.
History
Archaeological evidence shows the Niuas were settled by the
Lapita culture
The Lapita culture is the name given to a Neolithic Austronesian people and their material culture, who settled Island Melanesia via a seaborne migration at around 1600 to 500 BCE. They are believed to have originated from the northern Phili ...
. It was later part of the
Tui Manu'a and
Tuʻi Tonga Empires.
The Niua group was first encountered by Europeans in 1616 by
Willem Schouten
Willem Cornelisz Schouten ( – 1625) was a Dutch navigator for the Dutch East India Company. He was the first to sail the Cape Horn route to the Pacific Ocean.
Biography
Willem Cornelisz Schouten was born in c. 1567 in Hoorn, Holland, Sev ...
and
Jacob Le Maire Cornelisz during their
circumnavigation
Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth.
The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magel ...
.
Government
The islands are part of Tonga. Their people are represented in the
legislative Assembly of Tonga
The Legislative Assembly of Tonga ( to, Fale Alea ʻo Tonga) is the unicameral legislature of Tonga. The assembly has 26 members in which 17 members elected by majority of the people for a 5-year term in multi-seat constituencies via the sing ...
via the
Niua 17 electoral constituency, while their nobles are represented via the
Niuas Nobles' constituency.
References
{{coord, 15.9594, S, 173.783, W, source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title
Islands of Tonga
Divisions of Tonga
1616 in Tonga