Tokelau is a group of three coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean about 300 miles (480 kilometers) to the north of the Samoa Islands. The total population of Tokelau is about 2,000. The islands were previously known as the Tokelau Islands and also as the Union Islands. They have a total land area of 5 square miles (12 square kilometers). The language of the Tokelauans is related to Samoan. The people also speak English.
The British navigator Commodore John Byron visited Atafu in 1765. In 1889, a British protectorate was proclaimed over the three atolls, which became known as the Union Islands. They were made part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Protectorate in 1916. New Zealand took over the administration of the Tokelau Islands in 1926, and they became a part of New Zealand in 1948. In 2006, the residents of Tokelau voted in a referendum (direct vote) on self-government. Not enough voters approved the plan for self-government, and so Tokelau remained a territory of New Zealand.
