Tongatapu has experienced more rapid economic development than the other islands of Tonga, and has thus attracted many internal migrants from them.

[citation needed] Tongatapu has a rather cooler climate than the rest of Tonga as it is the southernmost group of islands in the country.

Tongatapu was first sighted by Europeans on 20 January 1643 by Abel Tasman commanding two ships, the Heemskerck and the Zeehaen commissioned by the Dutch East India Company of Batavia (Jakarta).

The expedition's goals were to chart the unknown southern and eastern seas and to find a possible passage through the South Pacific and Indian Ocean providing a faster route to Chile.

The earliest mention of the name Tongatapu (spelled "Tongataboo" in the text) was by James Cook in 1777, as he wrote his memoirs for the Three Voyages Around the World, Volume 1.