| |
|
|
| |
Home
>
World
> Australia and South Pacific
> Niue
|
General Information
Area: 262.7 sq km (101.4 sq miles).
Population: 1857 (official estimate 2001).
Population Density: 7.1 per sq km.
Capital: Alofi. Population: 750 (2001).
GEOGRAPHY: Niue is an isolated island located 480km (298 miles) east of Tonga, 560km (348 miles) southeast of Western Samoa, 980km (609 miles) west of Rarotonga and 2400km (1500 miles) northeast of New Zealand. Affectionately known as ‘the rock’, Niue is reputedly the largest upraised coral atoll in the world. It has 6178 acres (2500 hectares) of the most undisturbed forests in the world, designated tapu areas by the locals, where no humans were allowed to set foot for centuries. Now all the tapu forests, except the one controlled by Hakupu village, are penetrable. These forests are full of lush undergrowth, coconut palms and some of the oldest ebony trees known. Light and scattered forest covers approximately 34,594 acres (14,000 hectares). At the edge of the forest, the coast gives way to coral outcrops.
Government: Self-governing state in ‘free association’ with New Zealand. (New Zealand retains responsibility for external affairs.) Head of State: HM Queen Elizabeth II, represented locally by High Commissioner John Bryan since 2001. Head of Government: Premier Young Vivian since 2002.
Language: Niuean and English.
Religion: Most people belong to the Ekalesia Niue, a Protestant denomination; also Latter Day Saints (Mormon), Jehovah’s Witness, Roman Catholic and Seventh Day Adventist.
Time: GMT - 11.
Electricity: 240 volts AC, 50Hz. Plugs are the standard three-pin type.
Telephone
IDD and local facilities are available. Country code: 683. Outgoing international calls must be made through the operator. There are telephones in hotels, motels and guest-houses. Services are run by the Telecommunications Department located at the Commercial Centre in Alofi, which also provides fax facilities, and is open 24 hours a day. The following are local emergency telephone numbers: Police – 999. Fire – 4133. Hospital – 998.
Internet
ISPs include Internet Niue (website: www.niue.nu).
Post
The Niue Post Office is open Mon-Fri 0830-1500.
Press
The Niue Star is published weekly in English and Niuean.
Television
Television Niue broadcasts in English and Niuean in the evenings only.
BBC World Service and Voice of America frequencies: From time to time these change.
BBC (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice):
Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov):
Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.
Terms and Conditions apply.
|
|
|
|
|
