Tonga

Overview:

Tonga - unique among Pacific nations - never completely lost its indigenous governance. The archipelagos of \"The Friendly Islands\" were united into a Polynesian kingdom in 1845. Tonga became a constitutional monarchy in 1875 and a British protectorate in 1900; it withdrew from the protectorate and joined the Commonwealth of Nations in 1970. Tonga remains the only monarchy in the Pacific.