The Tokelau are a Archipel of three Atoll S Polynesians of the Pacifique, under New Zealand Souveraineté .

Geography

Tokelau constitute an archipelago of three Polynesian islands, Fakaofo (2,6 km ²), Nukunonu (5,4 km ²) and Atafu (2,2 km ²), which extend at a distance from some 170 km in the Pacific-South, halfway between Hawaii and the New Zealand. The Neighboring states are the Kiribati in north, the Samoa (Western) and the American Samoa in the south, the Tuvalu in the west. To be located in space, Tokelau is to some 480 km in the north of the Samoa. The archipelago does not have a capital, each atoll having the responsibility of the “local services”. The island more in the south, Fakaofo, is located at 65 km of Nukunono and 105 km of Atafu, the island more in north.

Tokelau forms integral part of New Zealand, while being equipped with a particular status and an autonomous legal system. It is a “territory associated with New Zealand”, a statute similar to that of the island Niué and islands Cook.

History

Initially part of the British colony of the islands Gilbert and Ellice, under the name of islands of the Union since 1916, they is administratively transferred de facto to the New Zealand in 1925 to become officially a New Zealand territory in 1949 under the old name of Tokelau.

There is 5  000 years (3  000 front J. - C), of the inhabitants of the littoral of the China of the South, farmers of millet and rice, start to cross the strait to settle in Taiwan. Towards 2  000 before J. - C., of the migrations take place of Taiwan towards the Filipino . New migrations start soon of Philippines towards Célèbes and Timor and from there, the other islands of the archipelago Indonesia N. Towards 1  500 av. J. - C., another movement carries out Filipino in New Guinea and beyond that, the islands of the Pacifique. The Austronésiens are undoubtedly the first navigators of the history of humanity.

See also: Settlement of Oceania

Although archaeological evidence indicates that the atolls of Tokelau were occupied approximately 1.000 years ago, the reconstituted oral traditions and genealogies make go up the occupation to only a few hundred years. The three atolls lived in a way rather independent from/to each other all while maintaining a great social cohesion and linguistics. The company of Tokelau was dominated by clans of traditional chiefs (the Polynesian aliki ) and there were at the same time many skirmishes and marriages inter-islands. Fakaofo (608hab) had a light prevalence on Atafu (421hab) and Nukunoni (376hab). The life on the atolls was based on the subsistence, in particular fish and coconut. There is no ground in these atolls and the fruits and the vegetables are not available.

The first contacts with the Européen S brought material changes in the company of Tokelau. The ships brought new foods, clothing, tools as well as the knowledge of novel modes of life. Into the Years 1850, catholic missionaries and Protesting S (of London Missionary Society), introduced the Chrétienté which was adopted by all. Currently, the majority of the population of Atafu is congregationnalist and the majority of the inhabitants of Nukunonu are Catholique S. In Fakaofo, 70% are Protestant and the remainder are catholic.

Towards 1860, the Peruvian ships seeking of the labor forced for the mines of the Peru, visited the three atolls, and forced 253 valid men to go to Peru, that is to say it quasi totality of the male active population. Variola and the dysentery decimated these forced workers and very little (a score) returned in Tokelau. With the loss of these men and many chiefs, Tokelau referred on councils of old, the Taupulega in order to better control the islands. On each island, the families were represented individually within the Taupulega .

Tokelau passed under British protectorate in 1877 (in particular to protect them from the foreign ships), statute which was formalized in 1889. The islands of the Union ( Union Islands ) were annexed in 1916 and were included in the colony of the islands Gilbert and Ellice. It there forever have residential administrative presence in Tokelau, and blow, the administration was always there light , without causing substantial changes in the life of the atolls. Formal sovereignty was transferred to the New Zealand by the Tokelau Act from 1948 which restores the ethnonyme. Although Tokelau were stated to belong to New Zealand starting from January 1st 1949, they kept their distinct culture and their system with share.

For the three last decades, Tokelau have progressed towards a broader autonomy. There exists from now on a national legislative body and an executive council. A local judicial power exists as well as public services. Ships and local telecommunications make it possible the archipelago to be connected.

Demography

The population of Tokelau in 2004 was estimated at some 2000 inhabitants. The near total of the islanders is of origin Austronésienne (Polynesian) with 97% of Tokelauiens, of 2% of Anglo-Néo-Zélandais and 1% of Samoans. Tokelauiens speak the tokelauien, Anglo-Néo-Zélandais, the English, the Samoans, the Samoan . In addition at least 65% of the speakers of the tokelauan (approximately 4500) live outside the archipelago, that is to say in New Zealand and in American Samoa.

In what milked with the religious membership, them islanders are of Christian confession: 70% belong to the Church Chrétienne congregationnalist (especially in Atafu), 28% are roman catholics (Nukunonu) and 2% are of another confession. The island of Fakaofo shelters the two important religious confessions. Because of the very limited natural resources and overpopulation (145 sea-green. /km ²), the islanders tend to leave the archipelago to settle with the New Zealand.

Political situation

The January 27th 1994, the capacities of the administrator of Tokelau which held the executive power of the government of Tokelau, were delegated to the General Fono (general meeting). In June 2004, they were transferred to the three village councils which are from now on in charge of all the public services of their atoll. The Tokelau Amendment Act voted by the New Zealand Parliament in 1996 and which came into effect this year, allotted to the General Fono the capacities to legislate for peace, the order and the good government of Tokelau, including out of tax matter. Its functions are implemented by a made up delegation from the three Taupulega .

Currently, it is a question of ensuring the modern needs for Tokelau (i.e. education, health, transport and economic development).

In June 2003, Tokelau ensure the full responsibility to manage their finances. In October 2003, by unanimous decision of the General Fono , it was decided to study the internal choice of autonomy in free-association with New Zealand. An agreement united on the principles of partnership was signed in the presence of the general governor in November 2003.

November 25th, 2005 - the government of New Zealand studies in this moment one of the document-keys which will allow, in the months to come, with its dependence océanienne of Tokelau to reach self-determination. According to Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand, it is now a question for the legal experts and constitutional of his cabinet of putting the last hand at a draft treaty to constitutional vocation and which will be supposed, in the long term, to govern the new relations between Wellington and Atafu (capital of Tokelau). However, this document will become effective only on the assumption that Tokelauans decide in favor of this institutional direction, which is envisaged to take place at the mid- February 2006, during three days. Always within the framework of the procedure to be followed, the Parliament of New Zealand will have in any case, also, to ratify this text to him, since it should be a question of a treaty of “free-association” comparable with that already existing between New Zealand and the islands Cook or Niue. The process of consultation, in Tokelau, started five years ago, under the eye of the the United Nations.

End of a five years process

During debates, in particular within the National parliament (Fono) last August, the deputies showed themselves particularly anxious to preserve a certain number of asset, which the nationals of Tokelau enjoy because of their dependence with respect to Wellington: among these, amount to come from the New Zealand assistance. “What Fono currently seeks, they are clear insurances that the system in place will continue and that there will be also provisions designed to revalue the system regularly”, declared in August Falani Aukuso, chief of the public office of Tokelau. From their current statute, the few fifteen hundreds Tokelauans obtain New Zealand nationality automatically, as well as the rights which are attached to it, including the schooling, the social security, the retirement and the medical care free. Approximately thousand five hundred people live in these atolls océaniens, against a community of more than six thousand Tokelauans residing in a permanent way in New Zealand (primarily in Auckland and in its surroundings). During the last bilateral meeting, in November 2004 with Wellington, Phil Goff, then New Zealand Minister for the foreign affairs, evoked the prospect for a “agreement concerning the political evolution and a process to be followed” concerning the future of this territory not-sovereign. “In practice, self-determination will not imply significant changes (…) it is primarily a formalization of the status quo (…), because Tokelau is controlled already in many fields: it has its legislative body, an executive council and an legal apparatus, it manages its own budget and its public services (…) But that will make it possible to open the way for Tokelau, as regards assistances increased coming from the regional partners and of the international community”, Mr. Goff moderated then In premium: “Tokelauans will always be entitled to the New Zealand citizenship and will continue to receive our economic and technical support”, according to the minister, who speaks about “partnership on more levelling bases” with this territory (the last with being under New Zealand supervision) since nearly four twenty years.

Tokelau side, a “permanent Government council” in particular estimated that “time came for Tokelau to consider an act of self-determination based on the car-government, in free partnership with New Zealand”, then specified Mr. Goff, who added that its government was “fully of agreement”. This process of emancipation was committed five years ago and already, at the time of the visits of the missions of the Committee of decolonization of the United Nations, whose one in 2002, the inhabitants of the small archipelago of Tokelau (with approximately 500 kilometers in the North-East of Wallis) wanted to be clear: they hammered the message according to which independence is out of the question and which them preference went to the maintenance of the privileged bond which links them in New Zealand within the framework of a pact of " free association".

Field Internet

Tokelau are known (by the Internaute S) as a country which decided not to make pay the creation and the maintenance of domain names (TLD) finishing in .tk, this position being strictly contrary to the very commercial step which surrounds other domain names. See the Web site which publishes the exact conditions.

External bond

• Tokelau-Information linguistic project
• Situation

Simple: Tokelau Zh-min-nan: Tokelau

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