Tokelau is a territory of New Zealand that consists of three tropical coral atolls with a combined land area of 10 km2 and a population of approximately 1,400 in the South Pacific Ocean. The atolls lie north of the Samoas, east of Tuvalu, south of the Phoenix Islands, southwest of the more distant Line Islands (both islands groups belonging to Kiribati) and northwest of the Cook Islands. The United Nations General Assembly designated Tokelau a Non-Self-Governing Territory. Until 1976 the official name was Tokelau Islands. Tokelau is sometimes referred to by Westerners by the older, colonial name of The Union Islands.

Tokelau consists of three small coral atolls, Atafu, Fakaofo and Nukunonu. In the case of Fakaofo, villages are set over two neighbouring islets. In Nukunonu and Atafu, the population of each atoll is concentrated in a single village on one islet.  As Tokelau does not have air services, transport is by sea with fortnightly services from Apia, Samoa, located 500km from the southern most atoll of Fakaofo.