Taufa'ahau Tupou IV
King

(pronounced "TOW-fa-ah-how TOO-po")

"It is difficult for anybody to know what will happen in the future, but there are problems because it is difficult to control a democratic government."

The Kingdom of Tonga is a small Polynesian kingdom located in the central South Pacific consisting of 160 islands with a total land area of 748 sq km (289 sq mi). Tonga's neighbors include Samoa to the north, Fiji to the northwest, and New Zealand to the south. Recent archaeological evidence indicates that the Tongans were associated with a lapita (a type of pottery) culture group originating out of Southeast Asia. Slowly migrating eastward through Melanesia, these peoples settled in Tonga around 1000 BC. Contemporary Tongan society, often characterized as deeply religious and traditionally conservative, is largely composed of semi-subsistent farmers and noble elite. Tonga's population was...