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HISTORY
There is some debate that humans first left their footprints on Tongan beaches up to 5000 years ago. The islands were definitely settled by 3500 years ago, with the distinctive Lapita pottery still found on the islands. It is most likely the first Tongans migrated from islands to the west of Tonga, particularly Fiji.
Over the centuries, Tongan society became highly stratified, with chiefly families emerging to take control. A warfaring society, from the 13th century Tongan war canoes ranged as far as Fiji, Samoa, Tokelau and Niue, where the Tongan influence remains in varying degrees.
The first Europeans to set foot in Tonga were the Dutch in the early 1600s, followed by the English in the mid-1700's, including Captain James Cook who first dubbed Tonga 'The Friendly Isles'. Sandalwood traders, beachcombers and other somewhat wild types followed, and it wasn't until the 1820s, when missionaries arrived, that links with the outside world were truly established.
In 1875, the three chiefly lines that had dominated Tonga for so long were consolidated into a single monarchy under George Tupou I, whose grandson is today's king. Under his rule, Tonga was made a British Protectorate in 1900. Tonga is the only South Pacific country never to have been colonised. Independence, or emancipation as it is referred to, from protectorate status was granted on 4 June, 1970.
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