21 Facts About Tokelau

Tokelau has a population of approximately 1, 500 people; it has the fourth-smallest population of any sovereign state or dependency in the world.

The Tokelau islands were named the Union Islands and Union Group by European explorers at an earlier time.

Tokelau Islands was adopted as the islands' official name in 1946.

In 1979, the U S conceded that Tokelau was under New Zealand sovereignty, and a maritime boundary between Tokelau and American Samoa was established by the Treaty of Tokehega.

At midnight 29 December 2011 Tokelau shifted to UTC+13:00 in response to Samoa's decision to switch sides of the International Dateline.

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Tokelau was removed from the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony and placed under the jurisdiction of the Governor-General of New Zealand in 1925, two Orders in Council being made for the purpose on the same day.

At this point, Tokelau was still a territory under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom but administered by New Zealand.

Tokelau formally became part of New Zealand on 1 January 1949.

Dominion of New Zealand, of which Tokelau formerly was a part, has since been superseded by the Realm of New Zealand, of which Tokelau remains a part.

Tokelau Amendment Act of 1996 confers legislative power on the General Fono, a unicameral body.

Tokelau is located in the Western Polynesian tropical moist forests ecoregion.

The atolls of Tokelau provide habitat for 38 indigenous plant species, over 150 insect species and 10 land crab species.

Tokelau has an annual purchasing power of about US$1, 000 per capita.

Tokelau gives most domain names under its authority away to anyone for free to gain publicity for the territory.

Tokelau won its first ever gold medals at the 2007 Pacific Games in Apia, winning a total of five medals, all in lawn bowls, and finishing 12th (out of 22) on the overall medal table.

In October 2010, table tennis became "the first sport in Tokelau to be granted membership at a Continental or World level", when the Tokelau Table Tennis Association was formally established and became the 23rd member of the Oceania Table Tennis Federation.

Tokelau was due to take part, for the first time, in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, in Delhi, but, for unknown reasons, ultimately did not do so.

Tokelau does have a National Sports Federation, and a significant sporting event is the Tokelau Games, which are held yearly.

Tokelau has a radio telephone service between the islands and to Samoa.

Tokelau has the international calling code of 690, and has had five-digit telephone numbers from November 2015.

The vessel, which has a capacity of 60 passengers on international cruises and 120 for transport between the atolls of Tokelau, operates fortnightly between Tokelau and Apia, with the trip taking a little over a day.