Tokelau

Tokelau is a territory of New Zealand made up of three coral atolls, Atafu, Nukunonu and Fakaofo, in the South Pacific north of Samoa. Tokelauan is the first language of most residents, and the atolls share a land area of only 10 km² (4 sq mi).

Settlers from Samoa reached the atolls about 1,000 years ago, and the three communities kept their own chiefly clans while sharing one language and culture. Commodore John Byron sighted Atafu in 1765, and Captain Edward Edwards called there in 1791 while hunting the Bounty mutineers. Missionaries working from Samoa and Wallis Island converted the islands from 1845, leaving Atafu Protestant, Nukunonu Catholic and Fakaofo divided between the two churches.

Britain declared a protectorate in 1889 and joined the group to the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony in 1916. New Zealand took over administration in 1926, and under the Tokelau Islands Act 1948 the atolls became part of New Zealand on 1 January 1949, giving residents New Zealand citizenship. Since 1993 Tokelauans have chosen a leader of their own each year, the Ulu-o-Tokelau. Referendums on free association with New Zealand in 2006 and 2007 each fell just short of the two-thirds majority required. In the Treaty of Tokehega of 1979 the United States gave up its claim to the three atolls.

Income comes from copra, postage stamps, coins and handicrafts, and from money sent home by the many Tokelauans who live in New Zealand. The .tk internet domain, given away free to draw attention to the territory, earned about one-sixth of the economy by 2012. The first of three solar power stations was completed in August 2012, and together they were built to cover all electricity demand. No land rises more than 2 m (6.6 ft) above high tide.