Niue Dark Sky status

The entire South Pacific island of Niue was named an International Dark Sky Sanctuary, an area protected because of its exceptional views of the night sky, by the International Dark-Sky Association (Tucson, AZ; 520/293-3198, www.darksky.org) on March 7.

The first whole country or territory to be given that designation, it is described by the IDA as a “dark sky nation.”

Niue, with a diameter of just over 100 miles, has a population of about 1,600 people. It is a self-governing island in free association with New Zealand. (It elects its own representative government, but all international relations are handled by New Zealand.)