King Tupou VI, a 55-year-old former diplomat, was crowned in a formal ceremony with his wife Queen Nanasi Pau'u at the Saione Centenary Church on Saturday morning in the capital Nuku'alofa.

Later on Saturday there will be fireworks and people will light up the waterfront by burning small fires.

Visiting dignitories to Saturday's ceremony included Japan's Crown Prince and Princess who joined thousands of expatriate Tongans who had come home to join in the celebrations.

From Europe Prince Georg von Habsburg of Hungary and Princess Marie-Therese von Hohenberg of Austria attended the ceremony.

This year's celebrations cost only a tenth of the last coronation in 2008 but the Ministry of Tourism said an estimated 15,000 overseas visitors had come to the country during the week, compared to just a few hundred for the coronation of King Tupou's brother seven years ago.

King Tupou V died in 2012 after a five year reign which oversaw reforms to extend democracy in the island nation of about 110,000 people.

Tonga's monarchy goes back a thousand years. By the 13th century it exerted influence over neighboring islands, including Samoa, some 900 kilometers (500 miles) to the east.

Tupou I became king in 1845 after gaining control of the monarchy from two other royal lines. He had converted to Christianity under the influence of missionaries. Tonga became a British protectorate in 1900 and obtained independence in 1970.

Ceremonies for the ancient title of Tu'i Kanokupolu were held for Tupou VI last Saturday. "They trace their ancestry back to the sky god Tangaloa," US anthropologist Adrienne L. Kaeppler said. "The new king is the 24th Tu'i Kanokupolu and the Taumafa Kava confirms his title when he drinks the kava."

Kava is a mildly narcotic drink. The ceremony involved 150 Tonga nobles drinking kava from coconut shells while sitting in a circle wearning traditional ta'ovala mats around their waists.

jm/rc (AFP, EFE)