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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah's Tongan community is mourning the death of Tonga's King who died yesterday following a long illness.
King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV (Towfa-ah-hoo Tu-pow the forth) reigned over the tiny Pacific Island nation for four decades. He was 88.
Utah has one of the largest populations of people born in Tonga outside the country.
According to the 2000 Census there are more than 65-hundred Utah residents from Tonga.
Tupou the Fourth visited the state most recently in 2004 to dedicate the Tongan United Methodist Church in West Valley City after a previous church on that site was destroyed by arson.
His son Crown Prince Tupouto (Tu-pow-toe) immediately ascended the throne and was scheduled to take his vows today.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
