Total area: 748 km2
land area: 718 km2

Comparative area: slightly more than four times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries: none

Coastline: 419 km

Maritime claims:

Continental shelf: no specific limits;

Extended economic zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical; modified by trade winds; warm season (December to May), cool season (May to December)

Terrain: most islands have limestone base formed from uplifted coral formation; others have limestone overlying volcanic base

Natural resources: fish, fertile soil

Land use: 25% arable land; 55% permanent crops; 6% meadows and pastures; 12% forest and woodland; 2% other

Environment: archipelago of 170 islands (36 inhabited); subject to cyclones (October to April); deforestation

Note: located about 2,250 km north-northwest of New Zealand, about two-thirds of the way between Hawaii and New Zealand

NOTE: The information regarding Tonga on this page is re-published from the 1990 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Tonga Geography 1990 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Tonga Geography 1990 should be addressed to the CIA.