Tonga

Summary

Official Name

Kingdom of Tonga

International Conventions

CSICH (2010)

Population

104,000

Principal Languages

English, Tongan

Literacy Rate

100% (2018 UNESCO)

General References

Besnier 1992, Wurm and Hattori 1981

Language Counts

The number of established languages listed for Tonga is 3. All are living languages. Of these, 2 are indigenous and 1 is non-indigenous. Furthermore, 2 are institutional and 1 is in trouble. Also listed is 1 unestablished language.

Languages

Chinese zho: Users: 2,000 in Tonga. Status: Unestablished.
English eng: Users: 32,430 in Tonga, all users. L1 users: 730 in Tonga (2019 World Factbook). L2 users: 31,700 (2019). Status: 1 (National). De facto national working language, considered co-official with Tongan [ton]. Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, English
Niuafo’ou num: ’Eua and Tongatapu divisions; Ongo Niua division: Niuafo’ou island. Users: 1,000, all users. L1 users: 500 (2015 S. Tuilautala). L2 users: 500 (2015 S. Tuilautala). Ethnic population: 1,500 (2011 census). 523 on Niuafo’ou (2010), many elsewhere. Status: 6b (Threatened). Autonym: Niuafo’ou Classification: Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Oceanic, Central-Eastern Oceanic, Remote Oceanic, Central Pacific, East Fijian-Polynesian, Polynesian, Nuclear, Samoic-Outlier, East Uvean-Niuafo’ou
Tongan ton: Users: 106,000 in Tonga (2017). Total users in all countries: 189,740. Status: 1 (National). De facto national language, considered co-official with English [eng]. Alternate Names: Tonga Autonym: Faka Tonga Classification: Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Oceanic, Central-Eastern Oceanic, Remote Oceanic, Central Pacific, East Fijian-Polynesian, Polynesian, Tongic

Languages by Status

1 (National)

English

[eng] 1 (National). De facto national working language, considered co-official with Tongan [ton]. 32,430 in Tonga, all users. L1 users: 730 in Tonga (2019 World Factbook). L2 users: 31,700 (2019).

Tongan

[ton] 1 (National). De facto national language, considered co-official with English [eng]. 106,000 in Tonga (2017). Total users in all countries: 189,740.

6b (Threatened)

Niuafo’ou

[num] 6b (Threatened). 1,000, all users. L1 users: 500 (2015 S. Tuilautala). L2 users: 500 (2015 S. Tuilautala). Ethnic population: 1,500 (2011 census). 523 on Niuafo’ou (2010), many elsewhere.