Tokelau Islands

Tokelau Islands were lived in originally by Polynesian migrants from the nearby islands in the surroundings. The islands were made a protectorate of the British in 1889. It was only in 1925 that the islands were transferred back to New Zealand government.

The island of Tokelau is a minuscule piece of land that has three villages. It is an isolated island that does not have much in the way of resources. The island is not very developed economically, and is confined to agriculture as a means of sustenance. The aid provided from New Zealand is heavily depended upon, a sum of about $ 4 million in a year.

This is used to maintain the public amenities. This annual aid is substantially greater if you compare it to the GDP of the island. The main source of revenue is sale of copra, domain names, handicrafts, souvenir coins and postage stamps.

Although Tokelau is part of New Zealand, it lies in a different time zone from a major part of New Zealand. The island is ten hours behind the UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, which is a twenty two hour difference of time with New Zealand. The time zone is the same as Cook Islands and Hawaii.

Climate

Tropical moderated by trade winds (Apr to Nov)

On average, the temperature is about 28 degree C in a year. The rainfall is heavy and irregular. Down pours are likely at any time, of upto eighty mm.

Tokelau is situated at the northern side of the main hurricane belt, and the island experiences tropical storms sometime between Nov and Mar. Since 1846, there have been three hurricanes recorded. In 1990, Feb, Hurricane Ofa ravaged the island of its top soil and contaminated the freshwater lens, New plant growth has been on an all time low.