larger island arc with numerous subsurface volcanoes. The Kermadec Islands are known to be an active volcanic area where the Pacific Plate subducts under the Indo-Australian Plate. The islands of Tonga (~290 square miles) are located 450 miles east of Fiji and consist of 169 islands of volcanic and raised limestone origin. The largest island, Tongatapu (~260 square miles), is home to two thirds of Tonga’s population (~106,000). The people of Tonga are governed under a hereditary constitutional monarchy. The Samoa archipelago is located northeast of Tonga and consists of seven major volcanic islands, several small islets, and two coral atolls. The largest islands in this chain are Upolu (~436 square miles) and Savai`i (~660 square miles). Upolu and Savai`i and its surrounding islets and small islands are governed by the Independent State of Samoa with a population of approximately 178,000 people. Tutuila (~55 square miles), the Manua Islands (a group of three volcanic islands with a total land area of less than 20 square miles), and two coral atolls (Rose Atoll and Swains Island) are governed by the U.S. Territory of American Samoa. More than 90 percent of American Samoa’s population (~68,000 people) live on Tutuila. The total land mass of American Samoa is about 200 square kilometers, surrounded by an EEZ of approximately 390,000 square kilometers. To the east of the Samoa archipelago are the Cook Islands (~90 square miles), which are separated into the Northern Group and Southern Group. The Northern Group consists of six sparsely populated coral atolls, and the Southern Group consists of seven volcanic islands and two coral atolls. Rorotonga (~26 square miles), located in the Southern Group, is the largest island in the Cook Islands and also serves as the capitol of this independent island nation. From north to south, the Cook Islands spread nearly 900 miles, and the width between the most distant islands is nearly 450 miles. The Cook Islands EEZ is approximately 850,000 square miles. Approximately 600 miles northwest of the Samoa Islands is Tuvalu (~10 square miles), an independent nation made up of nine low-lying coral atolls. None of the islands have elevation higher than 14 feet, and the total population of the country is around 11,000 people. Tuvalu’s coral island chain extends for nearly 360 miles, and the country has an EEZ of 350,000 square miles. East of Tuvalu and north of Samoa are the Tokelau Islands (~4 square miles). Three coral atolls make up this territory of New Zealand, and a fourth atoll (Swains Island) is of the same group, but is controlled by the U.S Territory of American Samoa. The 32 volcanic islands and 180 coral atolls of the Territory of French Polynesia (~ 1,622 square miles) are made up of the following six groups: the Austral Islands, Bass Islands, Gambier Islands, Marquesas Islands, Society Islands, and the Tuamotu Islands. The Austral Islands are a group of six volcanic islands in the southern portion of the territory. The Bass Islands are a group of two islands in the southern-most part of the territory, with their vulcanism appearing to be much more recent than that of the Austral Islands. The Gambier Islands are a small group of volcanic islands in a southeastern portion of the Territory and are often associated with the Tuamotu Islands because of their relative proximity; however, they are a distinct group because they are of volcanic origin rather than being coral atolls. The Tuamotu Islands, of which there are
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