Country Name: Niue

Capital: Alofi

Government Type: parliamentary democracy

Background: Voyagers from Samoa first settled on Niue around A.D. 900 and a second main group of settlers came from Tonga around 1500. With only one reliable source of fresh water, conflict was high on the island. There was continued contact with both Samoa and Tonga, and customs from those islands heavily influenced Niuean culture, including the formation of an island-wide kingship system in the early 1700s. These kings, or patu-iki, were elected by Niueans. In 1774, British explorer James Cook abandoned attempts to land on the island after several unsuccessful tries, and he named it Savage Island because of the warlike appearance of the Niueans. Missionaries arrived in 1830 but were also largely unsuccessful at staying on the island until 1846, when a Niuean trained as a Samoan missionary returned to the island and provided a space from which the missionaries could work. In addition to converting the population, the missionaries worked to stop the violent conflicts between Niueans and helped establish the first parliament in 1849.

In 1889, King Fataaiki and other chiefs asked the UK for protectorate status, a request that was repeated in 1895. The UK finally agreed in 1900 and King Togia-Pulu-Toaki formally ceded Niue that year. In 1901, Niue was annexed to New Zealand and included as part of the Cook Islands. Niue’s remoteness and cultural and linguistic differences with the Cook Islands led New Zealand to separate Niue into its own administration in 1904. The island became internally self-governing in 1974; it is an independent member of international organizations but is in free association with New Zealand, which is responsible for defense and foreign affairs. In September 2023, the US recognized Niue as a sovereign and independent state.

Region: Oceania

Population: 2,000 (July 2022 est.)

• note: because of the island's limited economic and educational opportunities, Niueans have emigrated for decades - primarily to New Zealand, but also to Australia and other Pacific island states; Niue's population peaked in 1966 at 5,194, but by 2005 had fallen to 1,508; since then it has rebounded slightly; as of 2013, 23,883 people of Niuean ancestry lived in New Zealand - with more than 20% Niue-born; this means that there are about 15 times as many persons of Niuean ancestry living in New Zealand as in Niue, possibly the most eccentric population distribution in the world

Ethnic Groups: Niuean 65.4%, part-Niuean 14%, non-Niuean 20.6% (2017 est.)

Languages: Niuean (official) 46% (a Polynesian language closely related to Tongan and Samoan), Niuean and English 32%, English (official) 11%, Niuean and others 5%, other 6% (2011 est.)

Religions: Ekalesia Niue (Congregational Christian Church of Niue - a Protestant church founded by missionaries from the London Missionary Society) 61.7%, Church of Jesus Christ 8.7%, Roman Catholic 8.4%, Jehovah's Witness 2.7%, Seventh Day Adventist 1.4%, other 8.2%, none 8.9% (2017 est.)

Economic Overview: upper-middle-income self-governing New Zealand territorial economy; environmentally fragile; massive emigration; post-pandemic tourism rebound; postage stamps, small-scale agricultural processing, and subsistence farming; most recent Asian Development Bank member

Currency: New Zealand Dollar (NZD)

Real GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $18.7 million (2021 est.)

Real GDP per Capita: $11,100 (2021 est.) note: data are in 2009 dollars

Exports: 

• $5.68 million (2021 est.)

• Comparison Ranking: 220

Export Commodities: tanker ships, collector's items, commemorative coins, fruits, nuts, juice, electrical resistors (2021)

Export Partners: Indonesia 57%, Thailand 7%, South Korea 5%, Czechia 4%, Poland 4% (2021)

Imports: 

• $43.8 million (2021 est.)

• Comparison Ranking: 218

Import Commodities: floating platforms, tugboats, refined petroleum, cargo ships, cars, plasticware (2021)

Import Partners: New Zealand 41%, United Kingdom 40%, Japan 15%, Israel 3%, Fiji 1% (2021)

Natural Resources: arable land, fish

Agricultural Products: coconuts, taro, fruit, sweet potatoes, tropical fruit, yams, vegetables, lemons, limes, bananas

Industries: handicrafts, food processing

Natural Hazards: tropical cyclones

Geography:

• Total: 260 sq km

• Land: 260 sq km

• Water: 0 sq km

(Country Summary, The World Factbook, CIA.gov)

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