The Kingdom of Tonga, or Tonga for short, belongs to Oceania, located in the western South Pacific Ocean, west of the International Date Line, and is an island nation of 173 islands, of which 36 are inhabited, most of which are coral islands.
Located 650 km west of Fiji and 1,770 km southwest of New Zealand, Tonga has a population of 108,000 as of 2017 and Tonga speaks both Tongan and English. The capital, Nuku'alofa, is located on Tongatapu Island, the largest island. The land area is 747 square kilometers, and the exclusive marine economic zone covers an area of 700,000 square kilometers.
In 1845, the Kingdom of Tonga was formed by the union of several islands, and since 1875 it has been a constitutional monarchy, becoming a British protectorate since 1900, becoming independent on 4 June 1970, and becoming a member of the Commonwealth and the 188th member of the United Nations. On July 29, 2008, King Tupou V of Tonga said he would cede power to Parliament, relinquish power and move toward democracy, but still retain a constitutional monarchy, the only one of the South Pacific island nations to maintain a monarchy.
Tonga consists of three archipelagos, The Tongatabes, the Hapai Islands and the Wawau Islands, with a total of 173 islands (36 of which are inhabited), of which Tongatapu Island is the largest, which is the main island of the Tonga Archipelago and the seat of Nuku'alofa, the capital of the Kingdom of Tonga. No rivers.
Tonga has a tropical rainforest climate with a dry season from May to August and a rainy season from December to April. The average annual temperature is 23 °C in the south and 27 °C in the north. The average annual precipitation is 1600 to 2200 mm. From November to March, hurricanes and torrential rains are common.
The Tongans are very rich in food, including cassava, taro, plantains, breadfruit, bananas, coconuts, sweet potatoes, various tropical vegetables, pork, chicken and so on. Guests are served on the table with a variety of local dishes, including roast pork, fried chicken, braised prawns, a variety of seasonal vegetables, as well as raw fish mixed with coconut water, roasted bananas, steamed hammers, roasted taro, tropical fruits and so on. The most eye-catching thing is the local folk noble food "roasted whole pig", a whole pig roasted by wood fire, the skin is crispy and tender inside. The whole pig feast is Tonga's most grand welcome feast. The abbot sat on the ground, first prayed in The Tonga language by the noble elders, and then the hostess cut the first slice with a sharp knife and offered it to the master to taste first, and then everyone began to enjoy it together, and the meal was usually pilaf by hand.