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The word tonga is cognate to the Hawaiian word kona meaning 'leeward', which is the origin of the name for the Kona District in Hawaiʻi. [15] Tonga became known in the West as the "Friendly Islands" because of the congenial reception accorded to Captain James Cook on his first visit in 1773.
What is known about Tonga before European contact comes from myths, stories, songs, poems (as there was no writing system), as well as from archaeological excavations. Many ancient sites, kitchens and refuse heaps, have been found in Tongatapu and Haʻapai , and a few in Vavaʻu and the Niuas that provide insights into old Tongan settlement ...
What is known about Tonga before European contact comes from myths, stories, songs, poems, (as there was no writing system) as well as from archaeological excavations. Many ancient sites, kitchens and refuse heaps, have been found in Tongatapu and Haʻapai , and a few in Vavaʻu and the Niuas that provide insights into old Tongan settlement ...
Tonga is the only surviving monarchy among the island nations of the Pacific Ocean, as well as being the only island nation never to have been formally colonized. The islands are also known as the Friendly Islands because of the friendly reception accorded to Captain Cook on his first visit in 1773.
Arguably Tonga's most famous monument is the Haʻamonga ʻa Maui, a six-metre-tall (20 ft) trilithon consisting in three coral slabs (two holding up the third as a crosspiece), located in the east of Tongatapu (the country's main island), "near the villages of Niutoua and Afa".
The western islands, such as ʻAta (also known as Pylstaart island), Fonuafo'ou, Tofua, Kao, Lata'iki, Late, Fonualei, Toku, Niuatoputapu, and Tafahi, make up the Tongan Volcanic Arc and are all of volcanic origin. [3] They were created from the subduction of the westwards-moving Pacific plate under
Tonga has evolved its own version of Western-style clothing, consisting of a long tupenu, or sarong, for women, and a short tupenu for men. Women cover the tupenu with a kofu , or Western-style dress; men top the tupenu either with a T-shirt, a Western casual shirt, or on formal occasions, a dress shirt and a suit coat.
Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukuʻalofa.It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% of the national population, on 260 square kilometres (100 square miles).