TONGAN LANGUAGE WEEK 2025.
"Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e lea faka-Tonga"
Tongan Language Week / Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e lea faka-Tonga is an annual event that exists to celebrate the culture and language of Tonga, a Polynesian kingdom of 169 South Pacific islands.
With a population of over 100,000 people as well as thousands of people of Tongan descent living in New Zealand, the existence of Tongan Language Week holds great importance. It is celebrated through language, song, dance, cultural displays, and community events.
Tonga is a Polynesian kingdom of 169 South Pacific islands, located roughly 1600 miles northeast of New Zealand. 70% of Tonga’s 105,000 population reside on the island of Tongatapu, which also happens to be home to Tonga’s capital Nukuʻalofa.
Unlike other islands in the area like Samoa, Tonga was never formally colonised by the British. Instead, between 1900 to 1970, Tonga had British protected-state status. Under a treaty of friendship, Britain agreed to look after Tonga’s foreign affairs without having to relinquish any sovereignty.
About Tongan Language.
Tongan is a Polynesian language that roughly 200,000 people are native speakers in. It’s the first language for most of the Tongan islands’ population of around 105,000 inhabitants. As of 2018, it was the 13th most widely spoken language in New Zealand, where 35,820 (0.76%) speak it.
Tongan has a lot in common with other Polynesian languages such as Hawaiian, Tahitian and Māori. That being said, they are not mutually intelligible and are different in a myriad of ways. That is to be expected, having been separated from one another by vast stretches of the Pacific Ocean for centuries and centuries.
Tongan Language Week gives people of all backgrounds the chance to learn some basic Tongan and gives students who speak Tongan the opportunity to share their knowledge in the classroom. Community events take place across New Zealand to celebrate it.
