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<\/a>Tokelau has a population of approximately 1,500 people; it has the fourth-smallest population of any sovereign state or dependency on the world. As of the 2016 census, around 45% of its residents had been born overseas, mostly in Samoa or New Zealand. The populace has a life expectancy of 69, which is comparable to that of other Oceanian island nations. Approximately 94% of the population speak Tokelauan as their first language. Tokelau has the smallest economy of any sovereign nation, although it is a leader in renewable energy, being the first 100% solar powered nation in the world.<\/p>\n
Tokelau is officially referred to as a nation by both the New Zealand government and the Tokelauan government. It is a free and democratic nation with elections every three years. However, in 2007, the United Nations General Assembly included Tokelau on its list of non-self-governing territories<\/a>. Its inclusion on this list is controversial, as Tokelauans have twice narrowly voted against further self-determination, and the islands’ small population makes the viability of self-government challenging. The basis of Tokelau’s legislative, administrative and judicial systems is the Tokelau Islands Act 1948<\/a>, which has been amended on a number of occasions. Since 1993, the territory has annually elected its own head of government, the Ulu-o-Tokelau. Before 1993, the administrator of Tokelau was the highest official in the government and the territory was directly administered by a New Zealand government department.<\/p>\n Archaeological evidence indicates that the atolls of Tokelau \u2013 Atafu, Nukunonu, and Fakaofo \u2013 were settled about 1,000 years ago from Samoa and may have been a gateway into Eastern Polynesia.<\/p>\n The inhabitants embrace Polynesian mythology and the local god, Tui Tokelau<\/a>. Over time, they developed distinctive forms of musical and art forms. The three atolls have historically functioned separately politically, while maintaining social and linguistic cohesion. Tokelauan society has been governed by chiefly clans, and there have been occasional skirmishes and wars between the atolls, as well as inter-marriage. Fakaofo, the “chiefly island”, held some dominion over Atafu and Nukunonu after the dispersal of Atafu. Life on the atolls was historically subsistence-based, with a diet that relied mainly on fish and coconut.<\/p>\n The first European to sight Atafu was Commodore John Byron<\/a>, on 24 June 1765. He called the island “Duke of York’s Island”. Parties from his expedition who ventured ashore reported that there were no signs of current or previous inhabitants. Captain Edward Edwards<\/a>, having learned of Byron’s discovery, visited Atafu on 6 June 1791 in search of the Bounty mutineers<\/a>. They found no inhabitants, but saw that there were houses containing canoes and fishing gear, which suggested to them that the island was being used as a temporary residence by fishing parties from other, nearby islands. On 12 June 1791, Edwards sailed farther south, and sighted Nukunonu, naming it “Duke of Clarence’s Island”. A landing party that went ashore was unable to make contact with the inhabitants, but saw “morais”, burying places, and canoes with “stages in their middle” sailing across the island’s lagoons.<\/p>\n On 14 February 1835, Captain Smith, of the United States whaling ship the General Jackson, wrote of having sighted Fakaofo, which he chose to call “D’Wolf’s Island”. On 25 January, 1841, the United States Exploring Expedition<\/a> visited Atafu, and discovered a small population living on the island. The residents appeared to be there only temporarily, because there was no chief among them, and they had the kind of double canoes that were typically used for inter-island travel. They appeared to have interacted with foreigners in the past, because they expressed a desire to engage in barter with the expedition crew, and they possessed items that were apparently of foreign origin: blue beads and a plane-iron. A few days later, French explorer Captain Morvan sighted Fakaofo. The American expedition reached Nukunonu on 28 January 1841, but did not record any information about inhabitants. On 29 January 1841, the expedition sighted Fakaofo and named it “Bowditch”. The Fakaofo islanders were found to be similar in appearance and behavior to the Atafu islanders.<\/p>\n Missionaries preached Christianity in Tokelau from 1845 to the 1870s. French Catholic missionaries on Wallis Island<\/a> (also known as ‘Uvea) and missionaries of the Protestant London Missionary Society in Samoa used native teachers to convert the Tokelauans. Atafu was converted to Protestantism by the London Missionary Society<\/a>, Nukunonu was converted to Catholicism and Fakaofo was converted to both denominations. The Rev. Samuel James Whitmee, of the London Missionary Society, visited Tokelau in 1870.<\/p>\n Helped by Swains Island-based Eli Jennings senior, Peruvian “blackbird<\/a>” slave traders arrived in 1863 and kidnapped nearly all (253) of the able-bodied men to work as labourers, depopulating the atolls. The Tokelauan men died of dysentery and smallpox, and very few returned. With that loss, the system of governance became based on the “Taupulega”, or “Councils of Elders”, on which individual families on each atoll were represented. During that time, Polynesian immigrants settled, followed by American, Scottish, French, Portuguese and German beachcombers, marrying local women and repopulating the atolls.<\/p>\n Between 1856 and 1979, the United States claimed that it held sovereignty over the island and the other Tokelauan atolls. In 1979, the U.S. conceded that Tokelau was under New Zealand sovereignty, and a maritime boundary between Tokelau and American Samoa was established by the Treaty of Tokehega<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tokelau includes three atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and New Zealand. From Atafu<\/a> in the north to Fakaofo<\/a> in the south, Tokelau extends for less than 200 km. The atolls lie about 500 kilometers (311 miles) north of Samoa. The atolls are Atafu, Nukunonu<\/a>, both in a group of islands once called the Duke of Clarence Group, and Fakaofo, once Bowditch Island. Their combined land area is 10.8 km2 (4.2 sq mi). The atolls each have a number of coral islands, where the villages are situated. The highest point of Tokelau is just 5 meters (16 feet) above sea level. There are no ports or harbors for large vessels, however, all three atolls have a jetty to and from which supplies and passengers are shipped. Tokelau lies in the Pacific tropical cyclone belt. A fourth island that is culturally, historically, and geographically, but not politically, part of the Tokelau chain is Swains Island (Olohega), under United States control since about 1900 and administered as part of American Samoa since 1925.<\/p>\n Swains Island was claimed by the United States pursuant to the Guano Islands Act<\/a>, as were the other three islands of Tokelau; the latter three claims were ceded to Tokelau by treaty in 1979. In the draft constitution of Tokelau subject to the Tokelauan self-determination referendum in 2006, Olohega (Swains Island) was also claimed as a part of Tokelau, though the claim was surrendered in the same 1979 treaty. This established a clearly defined boundary between American Samoa and Tokelau.<\/p>\n Tokelau’s claim to Swains is generally comparable to the Marshall Islands<\/a>‘ claim to US-administered Wake Island<\/a>, but the re-emergence of this somewhat dormant issue has been an unintended result of the United Nations’ recent efforts to promote decolonization in Tokelau. Tokelauans have proved somewhat reluctant to push their national identity in the political realm: recent decolonization moves have mainly been driven from outside for ideological reasons. But at the same time, Tokelauans are reluctant to disown their common cultural identity with Swains Islanders who speak their language.<\/p>\n According to the US Central Intelligence Agency’s<\/a> list of countries by GDP (PPP)<\/a> Tokelau has the smallest economy in the world. Tokelau has an annual purchasing power of about US$1,000 (\u20ac674) per capita. The government is almost entirely dependent on subsidies from New Zealand. It has annual revenues of less than US$500,000 (\u20ac336,995) against expenditures of some US$2.8 million (\u20ac1.9 million). The deficit is made up by aid from New Zealand.<\/p>\n Tokelau annually exports around US$100,000 (\u20ac67,000) of stamps, copra<\/a> and woven and carved handicrafts and imports over US$300,000 (\u20ac202,000) of foodstuffs, building materials, and fuel to, and from, New Zealand. New Zealand also pays directly for the cost of medical and education services. Local industries include small-scale enterprises for copra production, wood work, plaited craft goods, stamps, coins, and fishing. Agriculture and livestock produces coconuts, copra, breadfruit, papayas, bananas, figs, pigs, poultry and a few goats. Many Tokelauans live in New Zealand and support their families in Tokelau through remittances.<\/p>\n Tokelau is served by the MV Mataliki, delivered new in 2016 as a replacement of the smaller MV Tokelau and jointly managed by the Tokelau Transport Department and the company Transport and Marine. The vessel, which has a capacity of 60 passengers on international cruises and 120 for transport between the atolls of Tokelau, operates fortnightly between Tokelau and Apia<\/a>, with the trip taking a little over a day. A dedicated cargo vessel, the MV Kalopaga, will enter service in 2018 and replace chartered freight vessels.<\/p>\n Ships load and unload cargo by motoring up to the down-wind (leeward) side of the islet where the people live and maintaining station, by intermittent use of engines, close to the reef edge so that a landing barge can be motored out to transfer cargo to or from the shore. On returning to shore, the barge negotiates a narrow channel through the reef to the beach. Usually this landing is subject to ocean swell and beaching requires considerable skill and, often, coral abrasions to bodies. When bad weather prevents the barge making the trip, the ship stands off to wait for suitable weather or goes off to one of the other atolls to attempt to load or unload its passengers or cargo, or both.<\/p>\n There is no airport in Tokelau, so boats are the main means of travel and transport. Some seaplanes and amphibious aircraft are able to land in the island’s lagoons. An airstrip was considered by the New Zealand Government in 2010. In 2016, plans to link the atolls with Samoa by helicopter had to be abandoned because of high costs, leading in the following years to renewed calls to the New Zealand government for help with establishing air services.<\/p>\nHistory:<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>Geography:<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>Transportation:<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>Flag of Tokelau:<\/h2>\n
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