Tokelau

For other uses, see Tokelau (disambiguation).

Tokelau The Flag of New Zealand is used in Tokelau File:Flag of Tokelau (local).svg An unofficial flag of Tokelau used since 1989 Official languages English, Tokelauan Capital None; each atoll has its own administrative centre Political status Territory of New Zealand Head of state Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (as Queen of New Zealand) Administrator of Tokelau Neil Walter Head of Government' Kolouei O'Brien Areabr> – Total  – % water   10 km²  Negligible Populationbr> – Total (2005)  – Density  1378  141/km² Dependent areaof valign=top New Zealand valign=top Currency New Zealand dollar ($ NZD) GDP $1.5-million (ranked 230th) Time zone UTC -11 Internet TLD .tk ' Calling Code 690 Tokelau is a non-self-governing colonial territory of New Zealand that comprises a group of three tropical coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean. The name "Tokelau" means "north-northeast." The islands are occasionally referred to by an older colonial name, The Union Islands, and until 1976 the official name was Tokelau Islands. The Tokelauan way of life is Polynesian culture at its most untouched. Geography Tokelau comprises three unbroken rings of coral that lie along a 150 kilometer northwest– southeast axis, separated from each other by 60km to 90km of open sea. The three atolls are located in the South Pacific Ocean approximately midway between Hawaiʻi and New Zealand. They lie about 500km north of Samoa. The islands are Atafu (at one time known as the Duke of York Group), Nukunonu (also the Duke of Clarence Group), and Fakaofo (once Bowditch Island). Between them they comprise a land area of 10.8 square kilometers. They have no ports or harbours. The climate is tropical, moderated by trade winds from April to November. The terrain comprises low-lying coral atolls enclosing large lagoons, the highest point an un-named location five meters above sea level. Tokelau lies in Pacific typhoon belt. Its future depends on the height of the ocean. No significant land is more than two metres above high water of ordinary tides. This means Tokelau is particularly vulnerable to any possible sea level rises. Very limited natural resources and overcrowding are contributing to emigration to New Zealand. There is no capital. Each atoll has its own administrative center. History Tokelau was originally settled by Polynesians migrating from other island groups. Samoan missionaries arrived in the nineteenth century. The islands became a British protectorate in 1889 and then were annexed to the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands in 1916 and then transferred to New Zealand administration in 1926. By the Tokelau Act of 1948, sovereignty over Tokelau was transferred to New Zealand. Defence is also the responsibility of New Zealand. However, the Tokelauans are drafting a constitution and developing institutions and patterns of self-government as Tokelau moves towards free association with New Zealand, similarly to Niue and the Cook Islands. In late February and early March of 2005, Tokelau was struck and severely damaged by Cyclone Percy. It was stronger than forecast and stayed in the vicinity for longer than had been predicted. It coincided with a spring tide that put most of the area of the two villages on Fakaofo and Nukunonu under a meter of seawater. The cyclone caused widespread erosion on several islets of all three atolls, damaging roads and bridges, and disrupting electric power and telecommunications systems. There was also significant and widespread damage to foodcrops including bananas, coconuts and pandanus. No one was seriously injured but villagers lost significant amounts of property. Politics File:Tokelau-cia-world-factbook-map.png Map of Tokelau Tokelau is a self-administering territory of New Zealand. In 2006, the head of state was Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented by an administrator, appointed by the New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The head of government, chosen from and who presides over the Council of Faipule, is rotated annually. The council, consisting of three elected leaders, one from each atoll, functions as a cabinet. Councils of elderly men and/or representatives of kin groups control the villages and direct village activities through the elected “pulenuku” (mayor). Elders and peers reprimand persons in communal venues for minor misdemeanors. Persons facing more serious charges are brought before local courts. The Tokelau Amendment Act of 1996 confers legislative power on the General Fono, a unicameral body of 45 seats. Each atoll's Council of Elders or Taupulega chooses 15 representatives to serve three-year terms. The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes Tokelau on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. On November 11, 2004, Tokelau and New Zealand took steps to formulate a treaty that would turn Tokelau into a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand. A UN sponsored referendum on whether Tokelau should opt for Free Association failed to reach the two-thirds majority required for the measure to pass. A repeat referendum was planned for early 2008. A fourth island, historically and geographically but not politically, part of the Tokelau chain is Swains Island (Olohega), part of American Samoa since 1935. The island was claimed by the US pursuant to their Guano Islands Act, however, in the draft constitution subject to the Tokelau self-determination referendum, 2006, Swains Island is again claimed as part of Tokelau. Economy File:Tokelau tk beach 01.jpg Beach in Tokelau Tokelau's small size (three villages), isolation, and lack of resources greatly restrain economic development and confine agriculture to the subsistence level. The people rely on aid from New Zealand - about $US4-million annually - to maintain public services, with annual aid being substantially greater than GDP. The principal sources of revenue come from sales of copra, postage stamps, souvenir coins, and handicrafts. Money is also remitted to families from relatives in New Zealand. GDP is around $US1.5-million, and per capita GDP is around $US1000. Agricultural products are coconuts, copra, breadfruit, papayas, bananas; pigs, poultry, goats, and fish. Industries include small-scale enterprises for copra production, woodworking, plaited craft goods, stamps, coins, and fishing. Tokelau exports around $US100,000 of stamps, copra and handicrafts (woven and carved) and imports over $US300,000) of foodstuffs, building materials and fuel to and from New Zealand. New Zealand also pays directly for the cost of medical and education services. A large number of Tokelauan people live in New Zealand and support their families in Tokelau by remittances. Since there are no harbours, cargo is transferred by whaleboat to cargo ships positioned on the down-wind (leeward) side of the islet. The whaleboats are rowed through a narrow channel in the reef. This landing is subject to ocean swell and beaching requires considerable skill and, often, abrasions from the sharp coral. Tokelau has radiotelephone service between the islands and to Samoa, and in 1997 established a government-regulated telephone service (TeleTok) with three satellite earth stations. Each atoll has a radio-broadcast station that broadcasts shipping and weather reports and every household has a radio or access to one. Tokelau has an internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD), .tk, and attempts to make money for the island by selling domain names. However, to gain publicity, Tokelau gives away most domain names under its authority. Free domains are pointed to Tokelau that redirect HTTP traffic via HTML frames to a specified web page and redirects five email addresses to external addresses. Only paid domains get the option of using a different name server (enabling more services and disabling the web or email forwarding). In September 2003, Fakaofo became the first part of Tokelau with a high-speed internet connection. The service is free for everyone. Foundation Tokelau finances the project. Demographics Tokelauans are closely related to Tuvaluans, Samoans and Cook Islanders. The sprinkling of European surnames is the legacy of the whalers and beachcombers who visited in the late nineteenth century. Tokelau has fewer than 1500 Polynesian inhabitants in three villages. About 5000 Tokelauans live in New Zealand. The limited natural resources and overcrowding are contributing to emigration to New Zealand, resulting in a population decline of about 0.9 percent per year. Depletion of tuna has made fishing for food more difficult. Virtually all residents marry for life. The domestic unit is an expanded nuclear family. All children inherit rights from both parents. Children are closely disciplined and precisely instructed. Obedience to one's elders and restraint between cross-sex siblings is expected. Physical aggression is abhorred. They speak Tokelauan and English. Tokelauan is a Polynesian language. Older people are bilingual in Samoan, which was introduced with Christianity in the 1860s. Younger people are more apt to be bilingual in English through their schooling. The atoll of Fakaofo, southernmost of the Tokelau Islands Before the arrival of Christianity, Tokelauans worshipped a god called Tui Tokelau, along with the usual pantheon of Polynesian gods. A coral slab personifying Tui Tokelau still stands in the village of Fakaofo On the island of Atafu all inhabitants are members of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa. On Nukunonu all are Roman Catholic. On Fakaofo both denominations are present with the Congregational Christian Church predominant. The total proportions are: Congregational Christian Church 70 percent, Roman Catholic 28 percent, and other, two percent. Both Protestant and Catholic congregations practice a fundamentalist form of Christianity. Churches are cherished sites with frequent services. An egalitarian ethic overrides differences in wealth among a growing better-educated, better-paid elite. They give generously to village and family enterprises and don't flaunt their wealth. Culture "Faka Tokelau," the Tokelauan way of life, is Polynesian culture at its most untouched, as a result of the atolls' isolation. Villages, which are unbelievably crowded, include a meeting-house, a church, an administration compound that houses a dispensary, a school, a communications centre (formerly a two-way radio), a cooperative store, and offices for administrative and elected officers. Houses are rectangular single-room structures on raised coral-filled foundations and aligned with the straight footpaths. Until the 1970s, the houses were open buildings constructed of local timber and pandanus-leave thatch, with plaited coconut frond blinds that could be lowered against wind and rain. The houses became inceasingly more closed, built of imported timber, concrete, and corrugated iron, sometimes with louvered glass windows. They have mats plaited from pandanus or coconut leaves, upon which the occupants sit and lounge. There are rolled-up sleeping mats, locked wooden boxes for clothes and personal belongings, and chairs, tables, and bedsteads. Separate cookhouses are built of local materials. Land is held by kin groups and managed by persons with recognized positions within those groups. Women manage the houses. Men manage and harvest plantations. Virtually everyone has rights to land and to a share of the produce. Most belong to more than one kin group and many receive produce from several kin groups. Village management of aid projects, for which all village workers are paid, has eroded the distinction between paid and unpaid work. Age determines who does what, who directs, and who labors. Widespread public service employment has changed the traditional pattern of men fishing and harvesting, and women managing the family. Both men and women work in skilled jobs, and most unskilled workers are men. All children attend village primary and secondary schools, and many continue schooling abroad. Oral narratives may be fictional stories or recountings of the past. In graphic arts, women work in fiber, and men work in wood. Their best-known form of folk music is “fatele,” a dance performed at many community gatherings and events. It is performed by a group, accompanied by “pokihi” (wooden box) and “apa” (biscuit tin), used as a percussion instrument. Each song begins with a stanza that is repeated up to a half-dozen times, followed by increased pitch and tempo. This tradition is shared with the music of Tuvalu. Log drums ("pate") are also played. The most famous Tokelaun group is probably Te Vaka. Credits New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. 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