Tokelau Island Map

Tokelau

LOCATION:   Half way between Hawai'i and New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean.

AREA:  Three islands totaling 3.9 square miles (10.1 kilometers).

POPULATION:  1,458 (July 2000 est.)

DISCOVERED: Linguistic analysis indicates that Tokelau was settled from Samoa. British commodore John Byron was the first European visitor, and gave the smallest island, Atafu, the name Duke of York Island. Captain Edwards of HMS Pandora sighted the largest island, Nukunono, while searching for HMS Bounty mutineers in 1791. He subsequently named it Duke of Clarence Island.

GOVERNMENT:  The Tokelau Islands became a British protectorate in 1889 and were transferred to New Zealand administration in 1925.

LANGUAGES:  Tokelauan, English and Samoan