Editing Niue (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Niue|British Western Pacific Territories}}
[[Polynesia]]ns from [[Samoa]] settled Niue around 900 CE. Further settlers arrived from [[Tonga]] in the 16th century.<ref name="brit">{{cite encyclopedia|url= https://www.britannica.com/place/Niue|encyclopedia= [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|title= Niue|date= 10 August 2015|access-date= 17 January 2017}}</ref>

Until the beginning of the 18th century, Niue appears to have had no national government or national leader; chiefs and heads of families exercised authority over segments of the population. [[List of Niuean monarchs|A succession of ''patu-iki'' (kings) ruled]], beginning with Puni-mata. Tui-toga, who reigned from 1875 to 1887, was the first of the country's kings to adopt Christianity.<ref>{{cite web | first = S Percy | last = Smith | url = https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-SmiNiu.html | title = Niuē-fekai (or Savage) Island and its People | year = 1903 | pages = 36–44 }}</ref>

The first Europeans to sight Niue sailed under Captain [[James Cook]] in 1774. Cook made three attempts to land, but the inhabitants refused to grant permission to do so. He named the island "Savage Island" because, as legend has it, the natives who "greeted" him were painted in what appeared to be blood. The substance on their teeth was hulahula, a native red [[fe'i banana]].<ref>{{Cite book | first = Anthony 'Tony' | last = Horowitz | title = Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before | year = 2002 | chapter = 8 }}.</ref> For the next couple of centuries, Niue was known as "Savage Island" until its original name, "Niue", which translates as "behold the coconut",<ref name=independent>{{cite news |first= Kathy|last= Marks|title= World's smallest state aims to become the first smoke-free paradise island |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/worlds-smallest-state-aims-to-become-the-first-smokefree-paradise-island-862977.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220621/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/worlds-smallest-state-aims-to-become-the-first-smokefree-paradise-island-862977.html |archive-date=21 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work= [[The Independent]] | date= 9 July 2008 |access-date= 21 July 2008 | location= London}}</ref> regained use.

Whaling vessels were some of the most regular visitors to the island in the nineteenth century. The first on record was the ''Fanny'' in February 1824. The last known whaler to visit was the ''Albatross'' in November 1899.<ref>Langdon, Robert (1984) ''Where the whalers went: an index to the Pacific ports visited by American whalers (and some other ships) in the 19th century'', Canberra, Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, p. 192–3. {{ISBN|086784471X}}.</ref>

===Religious colonialism===
[[File:Stamp niue 0,5 d.jpg|upright|thumb|left|200px|A 1932 stamp of Niue inscribed "Cook Islands Niue"]]

The next documented European visitors represented the [[London Missionary Society]], who arrived on the ''Messenger of Peace''. After many years of trying to land a European missionary, they abducted a Niuean named [[Nukai Peniamina]] and trained him as a pastor at the [[Malua]] Theological College in Samoa.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor1-last=Juergensmeyer |editor1-first=Mark |editor2-last=Roof |editor2-first=Wade C.|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Global Religion |title=Nukai Peniamina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WwJzAwAAQBAJ |date=18 October 2011 |publisher=Sage Publishing|isbn=978-1452266565|page=925}}</ref>

Peniamina returned in 1846 on the ''[[John Williams (ship)|John Williams]]'' as a missionary with the help of Toimata Fakafitifonua. He was finally allowed to land in Uluvehi [[Mutalau]] after a number of attempts in other villages had failed. The chiefs of Mutalau village allowed him to land and protected him day and night at the fort in Fupiu.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://niuepocketguide.com/a-brief-history-of-niue/ |title=A Brief History of Niue |date=14 July 2023 |publisher=Niue Pocket Guide |access-date=19 December 2023}}</ref>

Christianity was first taught to the Mutalau people before it spread to all the villages. Originally other major villages opposed the introduction of Christianity and had sought to kill Peniamina.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}} The people from the village of Hakupu, although the last village to receive Christianity, came and asked for a "word of God"; hence, their village was renamed "Ha Kupu Atua" meaning "any word of God", or "Hakupu" for short.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

In July 1849, [[John Erskine (Royal Navy officer)|Captain John Erskine]] visited the island in [[HMS Havannah (1811)|HMS ''Havannah'']].<ref name="Oct1853">{{cite web |title= The Church Missionary Gleaner, October 1853 |work= Savage Island |access-date= 18 October 2015 |url= http://www.churchmissionarysociety.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Images/CMS_OX_Gleaner_1853_10/5 | publisher = [[Adam Matthew Digital]] |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Request for colony status===
[[File:Richard Seddon and the King of Niue.jpg|thumb|Prime Minister of New Zealand [[Richard Seddon]] and the King of Niue, {{circa|1900}}]]

In 1889, the chiefs and rulers of Niue, in a letter to [[Queen Victoria]], asked her "to stretch out towards us your mighty hand, that Niue may hide herself in it and be safe".<ref name="Colonial Law' 1966. P. 897">''Commonwealth and Colonial Law'' by [[Kenneth Roberts-Wray]], London, Stevens, 1966. p. 897</ref> After expressing anxiety lest some other nation should take possession of the island, the letter continued: "We leave it with you to do as seems best to you. If you send the flag of Britain that is well; or if you send a Commissioner to reside among us, that will be well".<ref name="Colonial Law' 1966. P. 897"/> The British did not initially take up the offer. In 1900 a petition by the Cook Islanders asking for annexation included Niue "if possible".<ref name="Colonial Law' 1966. P. 897"/>

In a document dated 19 October 1900, the "King" and Chiefs of Niue consented to "Queen Victoria taking possession of this island". A despatch to the [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]] from the [[Governor of New Zealand]] referred to the views expressed by the Chiefs in favour of "annexation" and to this document as "the deed of cession". A British Protectorate was declared, but it remained short-lived. Niue was brought within the boundaries of New Zealand on 11 June 1901 by the same Order and Proclamation as the Cook Islands. The Order limited the islands to which it related by reference to an area in the Pacific described by co-ordinates, and Niue, at 19.02 S., 169.55 W, lies within that area.<ref name="Colonial Law' 1966. P. 897"/>
===Modern period===
[[File:Niue2022OSM.png|thumb|250px|Detailed map of Niue]]

[[Niue International Airport]] was established in 1970 and opened to commercial flight passengers in November 1971.

The [[New Zealand Parliament]] restored self-government in Niue with the 1974 [[Niue Constitution Act 1974 (NZ)|Niue Constitution Act]], following the [[1974 Niuean constitutional referendum]] in which Niueans had three options: independence, self-government, or continuation as a New Zealand territory. The majority selected self-government, and Niue's written constitution<ref>
{{cite web
|url= http://www.paclii.org/nu/legis/num_act/ca1974188/index.html 
|title= Constitution Act 1974 |publisher= Paclii.org 
|access-date= 20 November 2012
}}
</ref>
was promulgated as supreme law. [[Robert Rex]], ethnically part European, part native, was elected by the [[Niue Assembly]] as the first [[Premier of Niue]], a position he held until his death 18 years later. In 1984, Rex became the first Niuean to receive a knighthood.

In January 2004, [[Cyclone Heta]] hit Niue, killing one person and causing extensive damage to the entire island, including wiping out most of the south of the capital, Alofi.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/146866/niue-mourns-the-death-of-a-young-woman |title=Niue mourns the death of a young woman |date=2004-01-08 |access-date=2024-01-20 |website=[[Radio New Zealand]]}}</ref>

On 7 March 2020, the [[International Dark-Sky Association]] announced that Niue had become the first entire country to be designated an International Dark Sky Sanctuary.<ref>
{{cite web 
|url= https://www.darksky.org/niue-is-worlds-first-country-to-become-a-dark-sky-place/
|title= Niue is World's First Country to Become a Dark Sky Place |date= 7 March 2020 |publisher= International Dark Sky Association
|access-date= 9 March 2020
}}
</ref> On 29 September 2022, President [[Joe Biden]] announced that the United States would recognise Niue as a sovereign nation.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-29 |title=Remarks by President Biden at the U.S.-Pacific Island Country Summit |url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/09/29/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-u-s-pacific-island-country-summit/ |access-date=2022-10-02 |website=The White House |language=en-US}}</ref> On 25 September 2023, recognition was declared by President Biden and diplomatic relations were established.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/365589|title=Statement on the Recognition of Niue and the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations|date=25 September 2023|publisher=The American Presidency Project|access-date=25 September 2023}}</ref>