There are approximately 108,000 Tongans living in the kingdom, almost all of them Polynesians. Roughly 60% of the population lives on the main island of Tongatapu, which means "sacred Tonga." In addition, there are significant communities of Tongans living in American Samoa, Hawai'i, California and Utah; and also in New Zealand and Australia.

Over the past centuries, Tongans spread widely over the western part of Polynesia, and many people in Samoa, Uvea, Futuna, and the Lau Islands of Fiji share Tongan blood.