From
http://www.niueisland.com/history/:
The name ‘Niue’ translates as ‘Behold! The coconut!’, a reference to the fact that this rocky island could sustain the coconut palm, thereby making it a land worth inhabiting. Polynesians benefit immensely from this plant and have ingeniously evolved innumerable uses of it.
The island is now one of the worlds smallest self-governing states, and rules in free association with New Zealand. Most Niueans now live in New Zealand – about 20,000 are Niuean born or of direct Niuean descent, while the island of Niue itself has only about 1500 people living there.