Pacific Islands News Association

News : Japanese development aid funding splits Pacific unity on key WHO post [20/09/2018 - New Zealand]
News Feature : UN chief seeking ‘renewed commitment’ to global rules and values, as world leaders head to New York [20/09/2018 - United States]
Business News : About 160 vessels inspected during NZ- Fiji patrols [20/09/2018 - Fiji]
News : Fiji election to be held before 22 November 2018: PM Bainimarana [20/09/2018 - Fiji]
News : Rattle reappointed as Cook Islands Speaker of Parliament [20/09/2018 - Cook Islands]
News : Australian soldiers prepare to deploy to Papua New Guinea amid growing fears about China's influence [20/09/2018 - Australia]
News : Bid to beat China to PNG domestic internet cable [20/09/2018 - Australia]
News : Scott Morrison rejects AMA plea to bring children from Nauru to Australia [20/09/2018 - Australia]
News : New faces will help take Fiji forward: Bainimarama [20/09/2018 - Fiji]
News : NZ Greens co-leader encourages Pacific women to challenge authority [20/09/2018 - New Zealand]
News : PNG Customs beef up security ahead of APEC [20/09/2018 - Papua New Guinea]
Sports News : New Manu Samoa coach appointed [19/09/2018 - Samoa]
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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