Overview
Total land area: 259 square kilometres
Highest point: About 60 metres above sea level
Annual rainfall: 2170 millimetres
Population in 2000: 1600
More than 20,000 Niueans now live in New Zealand.
The main environmental threat to Niue is drought. Because of Niue’s height and steep coast, rises in sea level will have little, if any, effect on it.
What is a raised coral atoll?
A raised coral atoll forms when a coral reef grows on an underwater volcanic peak, which is then raised above sea level. This can happen from both earth movements and falls in sea level. Niue consists of coral limestone – old, dead coral that now makes up both the central bedrock and the coastal cliffs. The volcano on which Niue is formed is extinct.
Food and water on Niue
Compared with other types of islands, a raised coral atoll is not well suited to human habitation.
There isn’t much fresh water on Niue. In former times, the inhabitants had to find it in caves or dig wells for it. Niue also has very little fertile soil. There is only a thin layer in most places. However, Niueans made the most of the soil they had, and cultivated introduced plants – especially taro, bananas, and coconuts. Niue’s marine resources are good, but access to the sea is difficult because of the rugged coastal cliffs.
Toolmaking on Niue
As with other raised atolls, limestone is the accessible type of rock on Niue. Niueans made tools from this and from shells. Occasionally they obtained tools of harder stone from other islands. They valued these greatly, and would repair and reshape them until they were too small to use. These stone tools were used on Niue, but must have been obtained from Tonga or Samoa. Being a raised coral atoll, Niue has no stone of this kind.
How Niue was created
There were five gods: Fao, Huanaki, Lageiki, Lagiatea, and Talimainuku (Fakahoku). They left their land and discovered a small reef in the ocean – Niue.
The gods bailed water off the reef and emptied it into caverns. More and more dry land emerged, until the reef was big enough to live on.
It was one of the gods, Fao, who first brought humans to Niue. Some say that he had two children, Avatele and Malotele. Others believe he went to Fonuagalo and brought back a couple whose names were Avatele and Kavatele.
Ko e tupumaiaga ha Niue
Na toko lima e atua fakamua: ko Fao, Huanaki, Lageiki, Lagiatea mo Talimainuku (taha higoa foki ko Fakahoku). Ne fenoga a lautolu mai he motu ne nonofo ai ti moua e lautolu e uluulu he moana puke lahi, ko e matamaka ko Niue.
Ne ahu e lautolu e tau puke tahi mai he uluulu mo e liligi hifo he tau maihi maka. Kua kitia ai hane fae lahi fakahaga e kelekele momo ati maeke ia lautolu ke nonofo ai.
Ko e taha mai ia lautolu e tau atua ko Fao ne taatu fakamua e tau tagata ki Niue. Taha talahauaga pehe, na tokoua e haana a tau fanau, ko Avatele mo Malotele. Falu ne pehe, kua finatu a ia ki Fonuagalo mo e tamai e ia e hoana mo e taane ko Avatele mo Kavatele.