Tonga

Facts and pictures

There are some excellent places to look for facts and information about the history, people and culture of Tonga.

digitalpasifik.org

This site is part of the Pacific Virtual Museum pilot project funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Australia and put together by the National Library of New Zealand and the National Library of Australia.

• Look down the page to Explore locations.

• Choose Tonga.

• You can use Filter by and Media Type to only look at images, objects, videos, or audio.

• Listen to the Tongan National Anthem — Ko e fasi ʻo e tuʻi ʻo e ʻOtu Tonga.

Tips: Websites that have .org or .net in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the organisation’s mission and values are.

BBC Country Profiles

This is the website for the popular British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for international news. It has a section on country profiles that covers facts, government and history of countries like Tonga.

• Look down the page for the Asia-Pacific heading.

• Choose the Country Tonga.

• You will find some brief facts, as well as some key dates in the history of Tonga.

Kids World Travel Guide

This world travel guide has facts on a range of countries. It has been researched by parents and children who love to travel.

• Go to the tab called Countries at the top of the page, and look for Tonga.

• You will find a map of Tonga and facts on the people, traditions, geography, animals, and food of Tonga.

Tips: Websites that have .com or .co in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About us link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the company’s mission and values are.

Daily life

These websites have more detailed information about the daily life of Tongan people, their culture and traditions.

The Kingdom of Tonga

This site has been put together by the Tonga Tourism Authority. It has a page about life in Tonga today.

• Look to the very bottom of the page and find the link to The Kingdom of Tonga Today.

• This page talks about topics like language, tapa making, dancing and more.

Britannica School

This is one of the EPIC resources, a collection of reliable databases covering lots of different topics. You can choose either the Primary or Middle level.

• Choose the Middle level and put in your keyword 'Tonga'.

• This will bring up Tonga (kingdom in the southwestern Pacific Ocean) which covers climate, land, government, economy and history.

• There is also an entry on Nuku'alofa (capital city and port of Tonga).

• Try the Images & Videos and Related tabs to find more information.

Tips: To get to the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian first. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians between 1 and 6pm Monday to Friday and they will help you online. Some EPIC databases may also be available through your public library.

thecoconet.tv

thecoconet.tv has been put together for Aotearoa New Zealand's Pacific island community. It has lots of cultural information, songs, recipes, stories, news, videos etc.

• Go to the image How to then select Tonga from the menu. You will find lots of cultural videos on how to wear Tongan Ta'ovala, how to make Kahoa Lole and more.

• Or, use the search bar to enter the keywords Tonga. This will bring up videos on news events, legends and stories about Tonga.

Tips: Search words, or keywords, are the most important words in our question. Usually it’s better to leave out small words like ‘the’, ‘a’ and ‘of’ and just choose the main ones, eg Tonga. We can always change our keywords or add more if we need to.

New Zealand connection

New Zealand has a strong connection with Tonga.

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Te Ara is an excellent starting point for all questions about New Zealand Aotearoa. If we look down to the bottom of the page we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.

• Use the search word 'Tonga'.

• Results will include Tongans, which is all about Tongan people living in New Zealand.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade | Manatū Aorere This site will help with understanding New Zealand's relationship with countries in the Pacific Islands.

• Go to Countries and regions, then select Australia and the Pacific from the menu.

• Look down the page and find Tonga.

• You will find information on trade and official visits between Aotearoa and Tonga, and the New Zealand embassy in Tonga.

Tips: We like sites like this because they’re reliable. You can tell because of their web address – they have either .govt or .ac, meaning they are from government or educational organisations. They’re also New Zealand sites, so relevant for us.

Books

These books will give you more information about Tonga, its people, and the Tongan language.

• Tonga by Melanie Guile

• How Tonga got its name = Ko e founga hono ma'u 'e Tonga 'a hono hingoa by David Riley and Chad Robertson

• Tongan for Kids by Jari Jah Jah

• Tongan heroes by David Riley

• A new broom by Jill MacGregor.

SCIS no: 1850793