Niue Information

Niue has been probably since the 10th Century, settled by Polynesians from Tonga, Samoa and the Cook Islands, but then had little contact with neighboring islands, and evolved independently. This is reflected in big differences with the language and culture compared to other islands in the region.

In 1774 James Cook discovered Niue for Europe. He could not land there because of the hostile population and gave the island the name of Savage Island (Island of the Savages). Missionaries from England came in 1846 and most inhabitants were converted to Christianity. On 20th April 1900 until 11th June 1901, Niue was part of the British Western Pacific Territories.

On 11th June 1901 Niue was annexed by New Zealand as part of the Cook Islands. In 1904 they broke from the Cook Islands and in 1965 Niue formed a limited self-government. In 1974, the Association Agreement with New Zealand was closed. On 6th January 2004 Cyclone Heta devastated the island in the Pacific. Two people lost their lives and more than 200 people were left homeless.

The international legal status of Niue is specific in nature. Niue is an autonomous region in ‘free association with New Zealand’. The state of Niue was elected in an act of self-determination, which was approved by the United Nations and was monitored. Niue is a self-administer.

The legislative and executive power is subject to restrictions imposed by New Zealand. The inhabitants of the country are citizens of New Zealand. At the request of Niue, New Zealand continues to participate in certain matters of the country in the field of foreign and security policy.

Both remote location as well as cultural and linguistic differences to the other Polynesian population of the Cook Islands led to its government. The strong-migration, intensified by the effects of the hurricane disaster, resulted in New Zealand politicians speculating in 2004 that the association status could be changed in future to the benefit of New Zealand.

Mainly by New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff, these expressed thoughts were firmly rejected by the Niueischen Prime Minister Young Vivian. Niue is an associate member of the Commonwealth of Nations and the Forum and since 1975 has been a member of the Pacific Islands.

Niue has no port. All goods must be handled with moored boats and barges. In Niue, there is a regional airport (Aircode: IUE) with a paved runway, which was served in recent years by various airlines. Until October 2005 Niue was once a week connected to Apia (Western Samoa). Since November 2005 Niue is now served by Air New Zealand once a week from Auckland.

The Internet Users Society Niue (IUSN) in 2003, a nationwide free wireless was set up on the island. Initially there was resistance from the government, which was in dispute with the IUSN. In the meantime however, there are already 18 hotspots in operation. Only the station in Mutalau is still offline, for political reasons. In 2002 on the island there were 900 Internet users compared to 382,600 in 2008.

The international name ID “Nu” means in some Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands “now.” For the allocation of the international top-level domain, the competent IANA presupposes a certain autonomy of the area.

In Niue, there are two radio stations, one television station and an Internet cafe. The messages are accepted by New Zealand television. The island has the same time as Auckland. Because Niue is located on the other side of the date line, it is one of the few places on earth where you can watch the news the next day. The island plans to be the first country in the world that can meet their energy needs exclusively from wind turbines.

Niue is heavily dependent on New Zealand’s aid flows. Agriculture is primarily self-sufficient. Industry mainly processes produced food. The sale of postage stamps and homemade crafts are important sources of income. As elsewhere in Polynesia, the economy suffers mainly from a lack of resources, remoteness and low population. The government is trying to promote tourism and financial sectors.

Tourism is severely limited, since there are few houses and no major beach. The steep cliffs prevent almost all access to the sea. Moreover, there is no public transport. Tourists have to rely on rental cars, which are a limited resource. Hurricane Heta has severely shaken the fragile economy and the reconstruction of the country relies on foreign aid.

Sports

Niue has a football team, but is not a member of FIFA and is only an associate member of the Regional OFC. Therefore, the country can not qualify for the football World Cup or OFC Nations Cup. So far, Niue has completed two international matches in first place. The matches against Papua New Guinea (0:19) and Tahiti (0:14) were lost.

Niue has a somewhat more successful national rugby team, who took part in the qualification for World Cup 2007. On 23rd July 2005 they were victorious against Tahiti (55:8), but was followed two weeks later by a defeat against the Cook Islands (5:24), signifying the end of the qualification.