TONGA

TONGA.

Stylized map of Tonga archipielago.
Tenth stamp in a set of 14, issued on 01.07.1953.
Face value: 1 shilling.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 109.
- Scott No. 109.
- StampWorld No. 109.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 110.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 109.

Tonga, officially Kingdom of Tonga (in Tongan Pule'anga Fakatu'i 'or Tonga) is a country formed by an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean. It has more than 177 islands, of which only about 36 are inhabited. Its total area is 747 km² (288 sq mi), spread over some 700,000 km² (270,000 sq mi). The Lapita, who came to present-day Tonga between 1500 and 1000 BC, developed their own culture and even created an Empire which spread to other islands in the Pacific. The first Europeans to arrive in the archipelago were the Dutch Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire in 1616. In 1845 George (Siaosi) Tupou I unified the territory into a kingdom and promulgated the country's constitution, currently constituted as a parliamentary monarchy. Between 1900 and 1970 Tonga was a British protectorate.