Tokelau

Tokelau is far out in the Pacific Ocean.

It has three coral islands with palm trees. They are called Atafu, Nukunonu and Fakaofo.

Tokelau lies in the South Pacific Ocean, about 480 kilometers north of Samoa. It is made of three atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu and Fakaofo. An atoll is a ring of small coral islands around a lagoon.

Tokelau is a territory of New Zealand, and its people are New Zealand citizens. It has no single capital city. Instead, each atoll has its own center where it is run. Tokelauan is the official language, and English is widely used. People pay with the New Zealand dollar.

Britannica places Tokelau about 480 km north of Samoa and 3,900 km southwest of Hawaii, its three atolls in a southeast-to-northwest line. It has no central capital; each atoll has its own administrative center.

New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade calls Tokelau a non-self-governing territory within the Realm of New Zealand, to which New Zealand has progressively devolved administrative powers. New Zealand keeps responsibility for international obligations, defense and security, and the management of the Exclusive Economic Zone, in consultation with Tokelau. Tokelauan, a Polynesian language, is official and English is widely used; the New Zealand dollar is the main currency.

Each atoll runs its own affairs.

In Atafu village, the paths are made of white coral sand. Big trees give shade.

Atafu is the northwestern atoll, Nukunonu is in the middle and Fakaofo is in the southeast. Each atoll is a ring of many small islets sitting on a coral reef around a shallow lagoon.

The photo shows the main street of Atafu village at dawn, with a path of white coral sand, shady trees, a pale blue house and people starting their day. Ships cannot sail into the lagoons, so they stop outside the reef, and small boats carry people and goods to shore.

Britannica gives the atolls' land areas as Fakaofo 4 km², Nukunonu 4.7 km² and Atafu 3.6 km², each made up of numerous islets on a reef that drops off steeply a short way from shore. The lagoons are shallow and dotted with coral outcrops, with no navigable passages, so there are no good ports: ships anchor off the reef and lighters ferry passengers and goods.

The 2019 Population Count recorded 548 usual residents for Atafu, 568 for Fakaofo and 531 for Nukunonu, counting Tokelau public servants and their families based in Apia, Samoa, with their home atolls. The photo shows Atafu village's main street at dawn in 2007.

Tokelau's islands are very low and flat.

Coconut palms grow thickly on the islands. People catch rainwater to drink.

Tokelau's islands are low, rising only 2.4 to 4.5 meters above the sea. Their soil is coral sand, which lets water drain straight through, so people collect rainwater. Traditionally, rain catchers were made from hollowed-out coconut palm trunks.

It is warm, about 28 °C on average. About 2,500 millimeters of rain falls in a year, mostly from April to November, when tropical cyclones sometimes strike. Plants grow thickly, but there are only about 40 kinds, including coconut palms and pandanus.

Britannica describes low-lying islets 2.4 to 4.5 m above sea level, with highly porous coral-sand soil that makes rain catchments necessary, traditionally hollowed-out coconut-palm trunks; water-storage and catchment tanks have partly eased perennial shortages. Rainfall averages about 2,500 mm, mostly in the trade-wind season (April to November), when tropical cyclones occasionally strike, with occasional droughts the rest of the year. The mean temperature is about 28 °C.

Vegetation is dense but limited to about 40 plant species, including coconut palm, pandanus and other Polynesian trees and shrubs. Tokelau's Exclusive Economic Zone spans about 318,990 km² of ocean, MFAT reports.

Seabirds fly over Tokelau. Little lizards live on the land.

Fish and shellfish live in the lagoons.

Not many kinds of land animals live on Tokelau's small islands. Britannica lists rats, lizards, seabirds and a few birds that stop by on long migrations.

The sea matters much more. Fish and crustaceans, animals with hard outer shells, are caught in the lagoons for people to eat. Out in the open ocean, Tokelau's waters stretch over about 318,990 square kilometers, and money from fishing licences for these waters helps pay for Tokelau's government.

Britannica lists rats, lizards, seabirds and a few migratory birds as the islands' wildlife, and fish and crustaceans caught in the lagoons for local consumption.

The ocean around the atolls is Tokelau's main natural resource. MFAT says revenue from fisheries licences in the roughly 318,990 km² Exclusive Economic Zone makes a significant contribution to the national budget, alongside budget support from New Zealand. Britannica notes that New Zealand set up the 200-nautical-mile zone in the 1980s.

People on Tokelau speak Tokelauan.

Families grow taro and bananas and catch fish. Many Tokelauans live in New Zealand too.

Most people in Tokelau are Polynesian, and their language and culture are closely linked to Samoa's. Each atoll is run by a Council of Elders made up of the heads of family groups and two elected leaders.

Britannica describes families growing taro in special pits, along with breadfruit, papayas and bananas, and catching fish in the lagoons. Special trees are grown for building canoes and houses, and people weave hats, mats and bags. Many Tokelauans live in New Zealand.

Britannica describes an overwhelmingly Polynesian population linked culturally and linguistically to Samoa. Land is held along kinship lines, with land kept for communal use. Each atoll is governed locally by its Taupulega (Council of Elders), the heads of family groups plus an elected faipule (village leader) and pulenuku (village mayor). The General Fono, elected every three years, meets three times a year (MFAT), and the Ulu o Tokelau, the titular head, rotates annually among the three faipule.

MFAT notes that local production meets only basic needs and that the economy rests on fisheries licence fees and New Zealand budget support. The 2019 count found 1,647 usual residents, up 10% on the 2016 census (1,499); a significant number of Tokelauans live in New Zealand.