TOKELAU
(territory of New Zealand)
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 10 km2; land area: 10 km2
Comparative area: about 17 times the size of The Mall in
Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 101 km
Maritime claims:
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; moderated by trade winds (April to November)
Terrain: coral atolls enclosing large lagoons
Natural resources: negligible
Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures
0%; forest and woodland 0%; other 100%
Environment: lies in Pacific typhoon belt
Note: located 3,750 km southwest of Honolulu in the South Pacific
Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand
PEOPLE
Population: 1,700 (July 1991), growth rate 0.0% (1991)
Birth rate: NA births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: NA deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: NA migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: NA deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: NA years male, NA years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: NA children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Tokelauan(s); adjective--Tokelauan
Ethnic divisions: all Polynesian, with cultural ties to Western
Samoa
Religion: Congregational Christian Church 70%, Roman Catholic
28%, other 2%; on Atafu, all Congregational Christian Church of Samoa; on
Nukunonu, all Roman Catholic; on Fakaofo, both denominations, with the
Congregational Christian Church predominant
Language: Tokelauan (a Polynesian language) and English
Literacy: NA% (male NA%, female NA%)
Labor force: NA
Organized labor: NA
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: none
Type: territory of New Zealand
Capital: none, each atoll has its own administrative center
Administrative divisions: none (territory of New Zealand)
Independence: none (territory of New Zealand)
Constitution: administered under the Tokelau Islands Act of 1948,
as amended in 1970
Legal system: British and local statutes
National holiday: Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established
British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840)
Executive branch: administrator (appointed by the Minister of
Foreign Affairs in New Zealand), official secretary
Legislative branch: Council of Elders (Taupulega) on each atoll
Judicial branch: High Court in Niue, Supreme Court in New Zealand
Leaders:
Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952);
Head of Government--Administrator Neil WALTER; Official Secretary
M. NORRISH, Office of Tokelau Affairs
Suffrage: NA
Elections: NA
Communists: probably none
Member of: SPC
Diplomatic representation: none (territory of New Zealand)
Flag: the flag of New Zealand is used
ECONOMY
Overview: Tokelau's small size, isolation, and lack of resources
greatly restrain economic development and confine agriculture to the
subsistence level. The people must rely on aid from New Zealand to
maintain public services, annual aid being substantially greater than
GDP. The principal sources of revenue come from sales of copra, postage
stamps, souvenir coins, and handicrafts. Money is also remitted to
families from relatives in New Zealand.
GDP: $1.4 million, per capita $800; real growth rate NA%
(1988 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $430,830; expenditures $2.8 million, including
capital expenditures of $37,300 (FY87)
Exports: $98,000 (f.o.b., 1983);
commodities--stamps, copra, handicrafts;
partners--NZ
Imports: $323,400 (c.i.f., 1983);
commodities--foodstuffs, building materials, fuel;
partners--NZ
External debt: none
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: 200 kW capacity; 300,000 kWh produced,
180 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: small-scale enterprises for copra production, wood
work, plaited craft goods; stamps, coins; fishing
Agriculture: coconuts, copra; basic subsistence crops--breadfruit,
papaya, bananas; pigs, poultry, goats
Economic aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral
commitments (1970-88), $24 million
Currency: New Zealand dollar (plural--dollars);
1 New Zealand dollar (NZ$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: New Zealand dollars (NZ$) per US$1--1.6798 (January
1991), 1.6750 (1990), 1.6711 (1989), 1.5244 (1988), 1.6886 (1987), 1.9088
(1986), 2.0064 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
COMMUNICATIONS
Ports: none; offshore anchorage only
Airports: none; lagoon landings by amphibious aircraft from Western
Samoa
Telecommunications: telephone service between islands and to
Western Samoa
DEFENSE FORCES
Note: defense is the responsibility of New Zealand