Number of the day: 1,000

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One thousand: The number of pallbearers who carried the coffin of Tongan King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, who was buried Tuesday in an elaborate ceremony in the Polynesian city of Nuku'alofa.

Up to 10,000 ordinary Tongans attended the funeral, alongside foreign dignitaries including New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito.

A 21-gun salute was fired in honor of the late king, whose reign of 170 coral and volcanic islands was one of the last surviving monarchies of the South Pacific.

Tupou IV ruled Tonga for 41 years, making him one of the longest-serving royal leaders of modern times.

During his rule, he entered the Guinness Book of Records as the world's heaviest monarch, weighing 209.5 kg, but later spearheaded a campaign to cut obesity among his subjects, considerably reducing his own bulk.

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Pallbearers dressed in grass mats carry the coffin of Tonga's late king Taufa'ahau Tupou IV.

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