Tonga Trivia
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47 free Tonga trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Tonga is the only Pacific island nation never colonised and the last indigenous monarchy in the region, and this quiz covers the whole kingdom: the Lapita settlers, the Tu'i Tonga empire that once ruled Fiji and Samoa, the Dutch ships of 1616, Captain Cook and the 'Friendly Islands' whose chiefs debated killing him, King George Tupou I's 1875 constitution, the British Treaty of Friendship, Queen Salote riding uncovered through the rain at Elizabeth II's coronation, the 2010 democratic reforms and the 2022 volcanic blast heard around the world. Easy questions ask for the capital, the ocean, the religion and the national sport; the harder ones want the meaning of the name 'Tonga', the flag that can never be changed, the trilithon called the Stonehenge of the Pacific, the animal that belongs to the king, the currency, the crop once exported to Japan and the only Olympic medallist. There is also the Sea Eagles and Mate Ma'a Tonga, the shirtless flag-bearer, the Tonga Trench, the fahu system and the day the Bounty mutiny broke out. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the country, its monarchs and its history, and each question carries the sentence that backs it up.
30 of 47 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Tonga is officially known as what kind of state, the only one of its kind left in the Pacific islands?
A kingdom
A kingdom: Tonga is the Kingdom of Tonga, the last surviving indigenous monarchy among the Pacific island nations, with a hereditary royal line that has never been broken.
Q 02What is the capital of Tonga?
Nuku'alofa
Nuku'alofa, on the north coast of the main island Tongatapu, is Tonga's capital and largest town; its waterfront was hit by the tsunami of January 2022.
Q 03Tonga lies in which region of the Pacific?
Polynesia
It is directly south of Samoa, about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand, and 98% of its people are Polynesian Tongans.
Q 04How many islands make up Tonga, of which 45 are inhabited?
171
171: Tonga's 171 islands, 45 of them inhabited, stretch along an 800 km north-south line in three main groups, Vava'u, Ha'apai and Tongatapu, plus the far northern Niuas.
Q 05Tonga became known as the 'Friendly Islands' after warmly welcoming which explorer in 1773?
James Cook
He arrived during the 'inasi first-fruits festival. According to William Mariner, the chiefs wanted to kill him but could not agree on a plan.
Q 06The name 'Tonga' comes from a Polynesian word meaning what?
Southwards
Southwards: tonga means 'south' or 'southwards' in Tongan and related languages, fitting the archipelago's position south of Samoa; the word is cognate with Hawaiian kona, meaning leeward, as in the Kona District.
Q 07The first Europeans to reach Tonga, in 1616, sailed under which flag?
Dutch
Dutch: the ship Eendracht, on a Dutch voyage seeking a new route to the Indies, called at Tonga's northern islands in 1616, and fellow Dutchman Abel Tasman followed in 1643, well over a century before the British.
Q 08Which warrior chief, baptised George in 1831, united Tonga under one crown in 1845?
Taufa'ahau
Taufa'ahau, chief of Ha'apai, was baptised Siaosi (George) by Methodist missionaries in 1831, conquered his rivals and ruled a united Tonga as King George Tupou I from 1845.
Q 09In which year did Tonga adopt its constitution and formally become a constitutional monarchy?
1875
1875: King George Tupou I granted the constitution on 4 November 1875, drafted with missionary Shirley Baker; it also enshrines the national flag, which it says may never be altered.
Q 10From 1900 to 1970 Tonga had what relationship with Britain?
A protected state under a Treaty of Friendship
A protected state under a Treaty of Friendship: the 1900 treaty let Britain handle Tonga's foreign affairs through a consul, but Tonga kept its internal self-government until the arrangement ended in 1970.
Q 11Queen Salote Tupou III charmed the world at Elizabeth II's 1953 coronation by doing what?
Riding through the rain in an open carriage
Riding through the rain in an open carriage: as a mark of respect under Tongan custom she refused to raise the hood of her carriage while the other processional carriages closed theirs, and the soaked crowds adored her.
Q 12The king who reigned from 1965 to 2006, Tupou IV, held what physical distinction among Tongan monarchs?
Tallest and heaviest
Tallest and heaviest: weighing 209.5 kg in 1976, he was recorded by Guinness as the world's heaviest monarch; in later life he slimmed down dramatically and became a national symbol of dieting.
Q 13In which year did Tonga first elect a majority of its parliament by popular vote?
Q 21At the 2011 Rugby World Cup Tonga stunned which eventual finalist 19-14 in the pool stage?
France
France still edged them out for the quarter-finals on bonus points after Tonga's 41-10 opening loss to the All Blacks and a narrow defeat to Canada.
Q 22In rugby league, the national team's motto 'Mate Ma'a ...' followed by the country's name means what?
Die for
Die for: Mate Ma'a Tonga means 'Die for Tonga'; stars like Jason Taumalolo and Andrew Fifita switched allegiance before the 2017 World Cup, and Tonga went on to beat New Zealand, then Great Britain and Australia in 2019.
Q 23Paea Wolfgramm won Tonga's first Olympic medal, a silver at Atlanta 1996, in which sport?
Super-heavyweight boxing
2010
2010: the November 2010 election was the first in which most seats, 17 of 26, were chosen by popular vote; the 2006 riots in the capital, aimed largely at Chinese-owned shops, had pushed the reforms.
Q 14The January 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai has been compared in size to which historic blast?
Krakatoa in 1883
Krakatoa in 1883: the blast's atmospheric pressure wave circled the globe several times, a scale last matched by the 1883 Krakatoa eruption, and it cut Tonga's only undersea internet cable for more than a month.
Q 15How far from the main island of Tongatapu was the volcano that erupted in 2022?
65 km
65 km: the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano lies about 65 km north of Tongatapu, so its tsunami reached the capital within minutes; the waves even drowned two women on a beach in Peru.
Q 16Tonga's flag is red with a white canton bearing what?
A red cross
A red cross: the red cross in the white canton stands for Christianity, while the red field recalls the blood of Christ; the design dates from the reign of George Tupou I.
Q 17What is Tonga's currency?
The pa'anga
The pa'anga: Tonga's currency since 1967, the pa'anga is managed against a basket of the Australian, New Zealand and US dollars and the yen; the tala, vatu and kina belong to Samoa, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.
Q 18In Tonga, which animals are considered sacred and the property of the monarchy, so they cannot be hunted?
Flying foxes
Flying foxes: the fruit bats are regarded as sacred and royal property, so they may not be hunted, and they roost in huge, noisy colonies, most famously at Kolovai on Tongatapu.
Q 19What is Tonga's national sport?
Rugby union
Rugby union is Tonga's national sport; the national side performs the Sipi Tau war dance before matches and has played at nine Rugby World Cups, missing only the 1991 tournament through 2023.
Q 20What is the nickname of Tonga's national team in its most popular sport?
Sea Eagles
Sea Eagles, 'Ikale Tahi in Tongan, is the nickname of the national side; their best World Cups were 2007, when they ran eventual champions South Africa to 30-25, and 2011.
Super-heavyweight boxing: Wolfgramm lost the super-heavyweight final to Ukraine's Wladimir Klitschko, taking Tonga's first Olympic medal; Tonga has since sent athletes to both Summer and Winter Games.
Q 24Pita Taufatofua became world-famous as Tonga's flag-bearer at Rio 2016 for appearing how?
Shirtless and oiled in a traditional ta'ovala
Shirtless and oiled in a traditional ta'ovala: the taekwondo fighter's glistening entrance went viral; he then took up cross-country skiing to reach the 2018 Winter Games and carried the flag again at Tokyo.
Q 25The 13th-century stone trilithon on Tongatapu, the Ha'amonga, carries what nickname?
The Stonehenge of the Pacific
The Stonehenge of the Pacific: the trilithon's two upright coral-stone pillars and lintel, each weighing several tons, were reputedly raised around 1200 by King Tu'itatui to honour his two sons.
Q 26What title did the ruler of the medieval Tongan maritime empire bear?
Tu'i Tonga
Tu'i Tonga: the title of the sacred kings descended from 'Aho'eitu, whose maritime empire from about the 10th century drew tribute from as far as Fiji, Samoa and Niue; ariki and ratu are Maori and Fijian chiefly titles.
Q 27Tonga's earliest known settlement, Nukuleka, has been dated to roughly what year?
888 BC
888 BC: Lapita pottery makers settled Nukuleka on Tongatapu around 888 BC, give or take a decade, making it the oldest known site in the islands.
Q 28In the Tongan social system of fahu, which relative holds the highest rank in a family?
The father's sister
The father's sister: under fahu, sisters rank above brothers and the paternal line above the maternal, so a father's eldest sister, the mehekitanga, outranks everyone in the family and is honoured at feasts and funerals.
Q 29What does the everyday Tongan greeting 'Malo e lelei' mean?
Hello
Hello: Malo e lelei is the standard Tongan greeting, literally 'thanks for being well'; malo on its own means thank you.
Q 30What happens to commerce and entertainment in Tonga every Sunday?
It all stops, by constitutional law
It all stops, by constitutional law: the constitution declares the Sabbath sacred, so shops, markets and organised sport shut down each Sunday, with only essentials such as bakeries and hotels exempt.