Everybody moves away

last updated 8 January 2015

Alofi, Niue

Niue, a Pacific island that is the world’s smallest self-governing country, may have to give up its independence after a tornado flattened the capital this week. Just 2,100 people live on the coral atoll, only half of them native Niueans. Some 20,000 Niueans have already moved to New Zealand, where they can claim citizenship as former colonial subjects. The Kiwi option is “a blessing and a curse,” said Prime Minister Toke Talagi. “Those people who have contemplated leaving will now be resolved to leave.” He said he feared that the population would drop to an unsustainable 500 in the coming months.