What is Tonga like and where is it, the country of the oily Olympian?

(CNN Spanish) – Pita Taufatofua, Tonga’s standard bearer at the Tokyo Olympics, once again came out and generated passions in networks with his oiled body.

Taufatofua first caught everyone’s attention at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games wearing a traditional Tongan costume and covered in coconut oil. He also competed in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, representing Tonga in cross-country skiing (and yes, he appeared shirtless at that opening ceremony too).

His media attention in recent years has not only brought the spotlight to his glowing pecs, but also to a country that many may not have even heard of. Tonga, a Polynesian archipelago in Oceania, is a country of just 105,780 people, according to the CIA Factbook. That is even less than the population of the Recoleta neighborhood in the city of Buenos Aires, which has 165,494 inhabitants.

The country consists of 171 islands, of which only 45 are inhabited, although two-thirds of the population lives on the island of Tongatapu. Its total area, 747 square kilometers, is about four times greater than the city of Washington. It is one of the smallest countries in the world; is 189th in size (out of 258 listings), according to the CIA. In comparison, the Recoleta neighborhood has an area of ​​only 5.9 square kilometers.

Google maps

In the island country the official languages ​​are Tongan (a Polynesian language) and English, and the majority of inhabitants are Protestant Christians, according to CIA figures.

The flag carried by Pita Taufatofua, red with a white rectangle and a thick cross, represents Christianity in Tonga. The red symbolizes the blood of Christ, and the white purity.

The country, a constitutional monarchy – the last in the Pacific island nations – has an economy based mainly on the export of fish, and tourism is the second source of income. The king is Tupou VI, and he has been monarch since 2015, after the death of his brother George Tupou V.

In 2018, the country was hit by worst storm in 60 years.

Meghan and Harry, Dukes of Sussex, visited Tonga in 2018 as part of a tour of Oceania.

Meghan, Harry, King Tupou VI and Queen NanasipauÔu TukuÔaho of Tonga on October 26, 2018 (Credit: Getty Images)

With information from Adrienne Vogt