Tonga
The archipelago of "The Friendly Islands" was united into a Polynesian kingdom in 1845. It became a constitutional monarchy in 1875 and a British protectorate in 1900. Tonga acquired its independence in 1970 and became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. It remains the only monarchy in the Pacific.
There are currently no known threats to visitors or expatriate residents in Tonga
Tonga is a constitutional monarchy, unique in the Pacific. Under its Constitution of 1875, the government consists of the King in Privy Council and Cabinet, the Legislative Assembly and the Judiciary. The Privy Council assists the King in the discharge of his functions and is the highest executive authority. The Council comprises the Cabinet and any others whom the King chooses to appoint. The Cabinet consists of the Prime Minister, Ministers and the Governors of Tonga's two provinces, Ha'apai and Vava'u. The Cabinet is responsible for carrying out the decisions of the Privy Council.
The Legislative Assembly consists of the Ministers and two Governors, nine elected representatives of the holders of the 33 hereditary noble titles and nine elected representatives of the people. Elections for the nobles' and the people's representatives are held every three years on different days. In the absence of political parties or trade unions, candidates campaign individually.
At the last election (February 1999) most candidates ran on platforms promising some degree of political change. While this reflects a growing public interest in democratic reform, towards a more open and accountable form of government, there is no significant challenge to the position or authority of the king, and any change is widely seen as being his prerogative to initiate. The Pro-Democracy and Human Rights Movement has focused on raising public awareness of the case for reform and on publicizing instances of public waste and mismanagement.
Although Tonga has a highly traditional society, young, Western-educated Tongans have recently been calling for a new, more democratic constitution that would allow for direct elections to all parliamentary seats while retaining a titular monarchy.
Tonga has a small, open economy, which relies heavily on external development assistance and private remittances from Tongan communities overseas to fund a large current account deficit. It has a reasonable basic infrastructure and well-developed social services, particularly education. In recent years, national development objectives have given increased emphasis to liberalizing the economy and boosting economic growth through the private sector.
The main sources of Tonga's imports are New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Fiji and Japan. In 1998 these totaled $102 million, of which food accounted for a little under a third, machinery and transport equipment 18 per cent, manufactured goods 18 per cent and petroleum products 11 per cent.
