【Location】Tonga is arguably one of the most remote countries on earth. Surrounded by vast seas, the country is an island nation in the western South Pacific Ocean, belonging to Oceania, located on the west side of the International Date Line, 1770 km from New Zealand.
【Water system】There are no rivers in the country.
【Time Zone】 Tonga is the first country to greet the sunrise, and it is also the easternmost country on the earth, it is located in the 13th District of East, 5 hours ahead of Beijing time. Or to put it another way, Tonga was the first country on earth to enter the "today" world.
We usually use east, west, south and north to represent the four directions, what is the easternmost? It is the place that is closest to the international date change line from west to east, because the earth is turning from west to east, so the faster the time in the area east (that is, the nearest west of the change line), we usually say that the sunrise is in the east, because Tonga is on the west side of the change line, so it is the easternmost country, and every day of the earth is Tonga's first sunrise. The time difference between the nearest area on the west side of the change line and the nearest area on the east side of the change line can reach the theoretical value: 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds.
An international date line divides the Earth into "today" and "yesterday." The first to usher in "today" is Tonga, and a new day on earth begins with Tonga.
Sunrise in Tonga
Tonga is the only monarchy in the Pacific island region, the king is the head of state, long-term power, is the commander of the armed forces, has the power to dissolve the parliament, veto parliamentary proposals and other powers; Tonga social class is divided into three classes of royals, nobles and commoners, but not as hierarchical as India, the current prime minister and foreign minister Achilisi Bohiva, is a civilian.
Tonga is a member of the Commonwealth, respects the British Queen as the nominal head of state, and most of the laws and regulations are copied from the United Kingdom.
【Natural resources】 Fisheries and forest resources are relatively rich. A native land mammal endemic to Tonga, called the flying fox, is a bat with a wingspan of up to 1 meter. There are also many humpback whales in the waters around Tonga, which migrate from Antarctica to Tonga's warmer waters.
【Economy】Tonga's economy is dominated by agriculture, fishery and tourism, the economic development is backward, it relies heavily on foreign aid, rice, flour, some vegetables and fruits and meat are dependent on imports, fishery resources are relatively rich, and fish exports occupy an absolute dominant position in soup exports.
Tonga is one of the countries in the world with a very high proportion of Chinese, with Chinese accounting for about 2%. As of 2017, Tonga has a population of 108,000 and about 2,000 overseas Chinese.
In June 2016, China and Tonga signed the Agreement on mutual exemption of visas for ordinary passport personnel between the two countries, which entered into force on August 19 of the same year. The visa-free stay period for Chinese passports is 30 days.
Like China, Tonga schools are divided into private schools and public schools, which provide free education for children aged 6-14. About 90 per cent of primary schools are founded by the Government and about 75 per cent of secondary schools are founded by churches. The national literacy rate has reached 98 per cent, well above the average for developing countries in the world.
In 2016, the Chinese Government Scholarship Awarding Ceremony was held at the Embassy in Tonga
【Medical】Tonga implements a national free medical care system for citizens, but foreign citizens need to pay for medical treatment.
【Prices】Since most items need to be imported, Tonga prices are generally higher than in China, such as Coke needs 4-5 panga (Tongan currency name), about 14 yuan, and a cabbage tree is about 30 yuan.
【Tourism】Among the foreign tourists in Tonga, mainland personnel account for the largest proportion. Tonga's Tidal Caves are a unique wonder in the South Pacific Ocean, stretching for several kilometers of erosion of the coral coast, creating strangely shaped caves that connect with each other.
【Religious Customs】Influenced by British, Dutch and other colonial missionaries, Tonga is a very conservative Christian country, there are no special circumstances on Sundays, it is strictly forbidden to go out, spend the "Sabbath" at home, swimming and other recreational activities are considered "impolite".
Dress Code: Regardless of men, women and children, the traditional clothing of the Tongan people on the lower body is a grass skirt. What is very peculiar is that the more the grass skirt is torn, the more it can prove that the status is noble, ordinary people wear it freshly, and people with noble status wear grass skirts instead.
Tonga prohibits the use of clothes on the streets, as well as the wearing of vests, and the perpetrators of the offence, both men and women, are severely flogged.
【Eating habits】The diet of the Tongan people is mainly high in fat, especially like to eat meat, and the specialty is "roasted whole pig". Tonga's natural environment is very good, known as the "zero pollution" country, so the locals generally drink raw water directly, because there are no rivers in Tonga, the domestic water is mainly to collect rainwater or groundwater.
[Marriage Customs] Tonga's marriage customs make huaxin men envious, because Tonga allows domestic men to marry two wives, provided that both wives must be willing.
【Living customs】 Tonga coconut trees are very many, the local people use local materials, use coconut trees to build houses, even Tonga's royal palace is a three-story wooden house, therefore, Tonga has the title of "sea wooden house country". Some residents are also used to build thatched houses with branches, and such wooden houses also have the advantage of being earthquake-proof.
Civilian houses
Tonga Palace
【Other social customs】The aesthetics of the Tongan people are the same as those of the Tang Dynasty in China, taking fat as beauty, taking fat as precious, thinking that fat is a manifestation of luxury, Chinese like thin girls, if in Tonga, such girls are difficult to marry.
Tonga beauty
Tonga's constitution is nearly a hundred years earlier than the country. Tonga has two important holidays, Independence Day (June 4) and National Day (also known as Constitution Day, November 4) (the above information comes from the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), which makes me wonder, the general national day is Independence Day, I don't know why Tonga has two such holidays. What is even more strange to me is that the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also shows that the current constitution of Tonga was promulgated in 1875 and amended in 2010, while the country became independent on June 4, 1970, that is, the constitution was born 95 years earlier than the country, which made me feel incredible.
【Transportation】Tonga, the land of the end of the world, although the location is remote, the size is not large, but the external traffic is particularly developed, the country has 6 seaports, 6 airports, all international routes.
Locals generally go out on bicycles and driving, the country's total road mileage is about 950 kilometers, with 40,000 cars, calculated by 108,000 people, Tonga has 373 cars per 1,000 people, this data is much higher than China, The World Bank's 2019 data shows that China's 173 cars owned by only 173 people ranked 17th in the world.
[Military Defense] The country has no soldiers and no soldiers, and the people have no police and are uneasy. Although the country is small, the military force can not be less, the Tongan force is composed of the army, navy and royal guard, a total of more than 600 officers and men. The King is the Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht. There are more than 400 police officers in the country, but there are traffic police, criminal police, security police, fire police, immigration police, customs and public prosecution police.
Don't look at the small size of the country, the size of the army is not large, but Tonga also participated in the Second World War, mainly for the United States, New Zealand to provide logistical support, and contributed to the fight against Japanese devils. At the invitation of the United States, Tonga also participated in the Iraq War
。 Because of the environment, the Tongan people's ability to survive in the wild, especially on the island, is very strong, and in 1965, 6 Tongan teenagers survived for 15 months on an uninhabited remote island.
Remarks: Except for the brackets, the other bold characters are from the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The People's Republic of China. All pictures from the network, infringement please leave a message, seconds to delete!