tongatapu

{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2017}}

File:Tongatapu.gif

The island is {{convert|257.03|km2|sqmi|abbr=off}} (or {{convert|260.48|km2|sqmi|abbr=off}} including neighbouring islands) and rather flat, as it is built of coral limestone. The island is covered with thick fertile soil consisting of volcanic ash from neighbouring volcanoes. At the steep coast of the south, heights reach an average of {{convert|35|m|ft|abbr=off}}, and maximum {{convert|70|m|ft|abbr=off}}, gradually decreasing towards the north.

File:Sandy beach in southern Tongatapu.jpg

File:NL-HaNA 1.11.01.01 121 0051 Scheepsjournaal Abel Tasman 35.jpg

North of the island are many small isolated islands and coral reefs which extend up to {{convert|7|km|mi|abbr=off}} from Tongatapu's shores. The almost completely closed Fanga'uta and Fangakakau Lagoons are important breeding grounds for birds and fish as they live within the mangroves growing around the lagoon's shores. The lagoons were declared a Natural Reserve in 1974 by the government.{{cn|date=January 2022}}

Tongatapu has a rather cooler climate than the rest of Tonga as it is the southernmost group of islands in the country. Because of this, fruit production is lower in Tongatapu than it is in the warmer islands in the north.

{{Weather box

|location = Nukuʻalofa (Köppen Af)

|width = auto

|collapsed = Yes

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

|Jan record high C = 32

|Feb record high C = 32

|Mar record high C = 31

|Apr record high C = 30

|May record high C = 30

|Jun record high C = 28

|Jul record high C = 28

|Aug record high C = 28

|Sep record high C = 28

|Oct record high C = 29

|Nov record high C = 30

|Dec record high C = 31

|year record high C = 32

|Jan high C = 29.4

|Feb high C = 29.9

|Mar high C = 29.6

|Apr high C = 28.5

|May high C = 26.8

|Jun high C = 25.8

|Jul high C = 24.9

|Aug high C = 24.8

|Sep high C = 25.3

|Oct high C = 26.4

|Nov high C = 27.6

|Dec high C = 28.7

|year high C = 27.3

|Jan mean C = 26.4

|Feb mean C = 26.8

|Mar mean C = 26.6

|Apr mean C = 25.3

|May mean C = 23.6

|Jun mean C = 22.7

|Jul mean C = 21.5

|Aug mean C = 21.5

|Sep mean C = 22.0

|Oct mean C = 23.1

|Nov mean C = 24.4

|Dec mean C = 25.6

|year mean C = 24.1

|Jan low C = 23.4

|Feb low C = 23.7

|Mar low C = 23.6

|Apr low C = 22.1

|May low C = 20.3

|Jun low C = 19.5

|Jul low C = 18.1

|Aug low C = 18.2

|Sep low C = 18.6

|Oct low C = 19.7

|Nov low C = 21.1

|Dec low C = 22.5

|year low C = 20.9

|Jan record low C = 16

|Feb record low C = 17

|Mar record low C = 15

|Apr record low C = 15

|May record low C = 13

|Jun record low C = 11

|Jul record low C = 10

|Aug record low C = 11

|Sep record low C = 11

|Oct record low C = 12

|Nov record low C = 13

|Dec record low C = 16

|year record low C = 10

|rain colour=green

|Jan rain mm = 174

|Feb rain mm = 210

|Mar rain mm = 206

|Apr rain mm = 165

|May rain mm = 111

|Jun rain mm = 95

|Jul rain mm = 95

|Aug rain mm = 117

|Sep rain mm = 122

|Oct rain mm = 128

|Nov rain mm = 123

|Dec rain mm = 175

|year rain mm = 1721

|Jan rain days = 17

|Feb rain days = 19

|Mar rain days = 19

|Apr rain days = 17

|May rain days = 15

|Jun rain days = 14

|Jul rain days = 15

|Aug rain days = 13

|Sep rain days = 13

|Oct rain days = 11

|Nov rain days = 12

|Dec rain days = 15

|year rain days = 180

|Jan humidity = 77

|Feb humidity = 78

|Mar humidity = 79

|Apr humidity = 76

|May humidity = 78

|Jun humidity = 77

|Jul humidity = 75

|Aug humidity = 75

|Sep humidity = 74

|Oct humidity = 74

|Nov humidity = 73

|Dec humidity = 75

|year humidity = 76

|source = Weatherbase{{cite web

| url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=88719&cityname=Nuku'alofa-Tonga | title=Nuku'alofa Climate Info | publisher=Weatherbase

| access-date=4 November 2012}}

|date=October 2015}}

{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2017}}

Tongatapu is known as having one of the highest concentration of archaeological remains in the Pacific. The earliest traces of Lapita pottery found in Tonga was from around 900–850 BC, 300 years after the first settlements in Tonga were established. Archaeologist David Burley discovered the pottery around the Fanga'uta Lagoon, {{convert|2,000|km|mi|abbr=off}} away from the Lapita pottery found at Santa Cruz in the Solomon Islands.

Tonga was always the seat of the Tu{{okina}}i Tonga Empire, but in an area of distances up to {{convert|1,000|km|mi|abbr=off}}, it was often only a symbolic rule. From the first capital at Toloa, around 1000 years ago, to the second capital at Heketā, at the site of the Ha{{okina}}amonga {{okina}}a Maui Trilithon, none boasts more traditional attractions than the third capital at Mu{{okina}}a (from 1220–1851) with more than 20 royal grave mounds.

File:Royal Palace, Nuku'alofa, Nov 18.jpg]]Tongatapu was first sighted by Europeans on 20 January 1643 by Abel Tasman commanding two ships, the Heemskerck and the Zeehaen commissioned by the Dutch East India Company of Batavia (Jakarta). The expedition's goals were to chart the unknown southern and eastern seas and to find a possible passage through the South Pacific and Indian Ocean providing a faster route to Chile. The expedition set sail from Batavia on 14 August 1642. Tasman named the island "t’ Eijlandt Amsterdam" (Amsterdam Island), because of its abundance of supplies.{{Cite journal|doi=10.1179/tin.2004.36.1.20|title=The European Discovery of the Tonga Islands|journal=Terrae Incognitae|volume=36|pages=20–27|year=2013|last1=Hooker|first1=Brian|s2cid=140737896 }} This name is no longer used except by historians.

Commander James Cook, sailing the British vessel Resolution visited the island on October 2, 1773 by some accounts{{Cite web|url=http://www.thekingdomoftonga.com/three-millennia-of-history/|title=The Kingdom Of Tonga {{!}} Three Millennia of History|website=www.thekingdomoftonga.com|language=en|access-date=2018-05-15}} and by other accounts{{Cite news|url=https://www.captaincooksociety.com/home/detail/a-cook-s-tour-of-tonga|title=A Cook's Tour of Tonga|work=The Captain Cook Society (CCS)|access-date=2018-05-15|language=en-US}} October 1774, returning again in 1777, with Omai,{{cite book|last1=Salmond|first1=Anne|title=Aphrodite's Island|date=2010|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=9780520261143|pages=[https://archive.org/details/aphroditesisland00salm/page/291 291,412]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/aphroditesisland00salm/page/291}} whereupon they left [http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/docs/Memoirs/mem_044/mem_044_01.pdf some cattle for breeding]. These were still flourishing in 1789 when Bounty, under Fletcher Christian visited.

The earliest mention of the name Tongatapu (spelled "Tongataboo" in the text) was by James Cook in 1777, as he wrote his memoirs for the Three Voyages Around the World, Volume 1.

British and American whalers were regular visitors to the island for provisions, water and wood. The first on record was the Hope, in April–May 1807. The last known to have called was the Albatross in November–December 1899.Langdon, Robert (ed.) (1984), Where the whalers went: an index to the Pacific Islands visited by American whalers (and some other ships) in the 19th century, Canberra, Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, p.238-9. {{ISBN|086784471X}}

{{Historical populations

|1976 |57,411

|1986 |63,794

|1996 |66,979

|2006 |72,045

|2011 |75,416

|2016 |74,611

|2021 |74,454

|footnote=Sources:{{cite web |url=https://tonga-data.sprep.org/resource/1996-tonga-census-administrative-report |title=1996 Tonga Census Administrative Report |page=xii |publisher=Tonga Department of Statistics |access-date=30 December 2021}}{{cite web |url=https://tongastats.gov.to/census/ |title=Census |publisher=Tonga Statistics Department |date= |access-date=30 December 2021}}}}

File:Haʻamonga.jpg

• Nuku{{okina}}alofa – Capital of Tonga
• Mu{{okina}}a – Second largest town in Tongatapu. Site of the ancient burial mounds and the Papae 'o Tele'a Tombs.
• Langi – Tombs of Tongan kings
• Hule fortress – Located in Nukunuku - Kolotau Ko Hule - Western District of Tongatapu
• Mapu {{okina}}a Vaea – Blowholes in the coral reef on the south-western side
• Hūfangalupe – Natural landbridge on the south eastern side of Tongatapu
• Pangaimotu – Small resort island close to Nuku{{okina}}alofa
• Landing site of Captain Cook
• Flying Fox Preserve – Located in Kolovai in the western side Taungapeka
• Ha{{okina}}amonga {{okina}}a Maui – Trilithon
• Nukuleka – possibly the site of first Lapita settlement in Tonga
• Tupou College – first educational establishment in the kingdom located in the eastern district of Tongatapu near Malapo

• List of islands and towns in Tonga
• Sunergise 6 MW IPP Solar Generation Systems, installed at Kolovai village

{{reflist}}

{{wikivoyage|Tongatapu}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050308030553/http://www.tongatapu.net.to/tonga/news/facts.htm Tonga Quick Facts]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060716091255/http://www.pausenberger.com/tonga.html Photographs from Tongatapu, Tonga]
• [http://findingnz.co.nz/ap/gap2_disc_of_tonga_by%20europ.htm#gap2_top_to The European discovery of the Tonga Islands] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420000211/http://findingnz.co.nz/ap/gap2_disc_of_tonga_by%20europ.htm#gap2_top_to |date=2012-04-20 }} by Brian Hooker

{{coord|21|12|41|S|175|09|11|W|region:TO_type:isle|display=title}}

{{Divisions of Tonga}}

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Category:Islands of Tonga

Category:Divisions of Tonga