Pacific Islands News Association

News Feature : A growing to-do list for Manu Tupou-Roosen beneath that tropical exterior is a steely resolve to get the work done and an attitude that no challenge is unsurmountable [19/07/2018 - Fiji]
News Feature : This island nation is making the fastest-ever shift to renewables [19/07/2018 - Palau]
Business News : PNG National Executive Council should take a step back, says ADB [19/07/2018 - Papua New Guinea]
News : Proposed Anti-Corruption bill in Solomon Island considers giving or accepting gifts under customary practices as a defence against corruption [19/07/2018 - Solomon Islands]
News Feature : Why the Cook Islands fears rich-country status [19/07/2018 - Cook Islands]
Business News : Digital TV channel for Samoa government programmes [19/07/2018 - Samoa]
Business News : PNG landowners missing out from tuna company that stays in the red [19/07/2018 - Papua New Guinea]
News : Indonesia appreciates Micronesia`s commitment to respect its territorial integrity [19/07/2018 - Indonesia]
News : China ‘forces airline out of business’ as Palau maintains links with Taiwan [19/07/2018 - Palau]
News : US claims better development finance terms than China [19/07/2018 - United States]
News : No change after Mauke recount in Cook Islands election [19/07/2018 - Cook Islands]
Sports News : Captains set for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 [19/07/2018 - United States]
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Country profile - Niue

Niue flag

The residents of the Pacific island of Niue are far outnumbered by their compatriots who have migrated to New Zealand.

Home to fewer than 2,000 islanders, the self-governing coral atoll is trying to encourage some of the 20,000 overseas Niueans - many of them New Zealand-born - to return.

Niue operates in free association with New Zealand, its main source of aid and its biggest trading partner. New Zealand is obliged under the island's constitution to provide "necessary economic and administrative assistance".

Aside from defence matters and foreign relations, Niue runs its own affairs. All Niueans are New Zealand citizens and can take up residency there.

The long-running population decline was aggravated by Cyclone Heta, which devastated the island in 2004. Some observers fear that the community's viability is threatened by migration.

Economic activity revolves around fishing, agriculture and tourism. Surrounded by a coral reef and with a rugged coastline, the island attracts whale-watchers, divers and yachting enthusiasts.

Technology-savvy Niue has embraced the internet. It earns money from the sale of its suffix and in 2003 it became the first territory to offer a free wireless internet service to all residents.

Lying between Tonga and the Cook Islands, Niue was settled by Samoans in the first century AD. Britain's Captain James Cook sighted the island in 1774, dubbing it "Savage Island" after locals thwarted his landing attempts.

British missionaries arrived in the 19th century and the island was subsequently administered from New Zealand. Niueans voted to become self-governing in 1974.

Additional information