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Geography The islands of Tonga border in the north on Samoa and in the west on the Fijian Lau group. Although they are obviously east of longitude 180º, the international dateline makes a sharp bend here, which means Tonga is one day ahead of its neighbour Samoa. The 150 Tongan islands stretch over four groups from South to North: Tongatapu, Ha’apai, Vava’u and Niua. Tongatapu is not only the largest island in the Southern group, but also the largest of all the Tongan islands, and it is also the home of the capital city and the government. The Ha’apai group is about 100km further to the north and is made up of 36 small, widely spread islands and countless reefs. The 34 islands which make up Vava’u all belong to the same landmass. They are heavily grouped around the main island which has countless bays and is also called Vava’u. The three small islands in the Niua group are isolated almost 400 km north of Vava’u on the border of the territorial waters of Tonga and Samoa. Most of the islands in the Tongatapu, Ha’apai and Vava’u groups are coral plateaus which have emerged out of the sea from a long, underwater mountain ridge. The islands on the western edge of Tonga and the Niua islands are the peaks of volcanoes which have emerged from the sea, some of which are still active. |
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