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Encyclopedia > Geography of French Polynesia

This article describes the geography of French Polynesia.

Location
Oceania, archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from South America to Australia
Geographic coordinates
15° 00′ S, 140° 00&prime W
Map references
Oceania
Area
  • Total: 4,167 kmē (118 islands and atolls)
  • Land: 3,660 kmē
  • Water: 507 kmē
Land boundaries
0 km
Coastline
2,525 km
Maritime claims
  • Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
  • Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate
Tropical, but moderate
Terrain
Mixture of rugged high islands and low islands with reefs
Elevation extremes
  • Lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
  • Highest point: Mont Orohena 2,241 m
Natural resources
Timber, fish, cobalt, hydropower
Land use
  • Arable land: 1%
  • Permanent crops: 6%
  • Permanent pastures: 5%
  • Forests and woodland: 31%
  • Other: 57% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land
NA kmē
Natural hazards
Occasional cyclonic storms in January
Environment - current issues
NA
Geography - note
Includes five archipelagoes; Makatea in French Polynesia is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean - the others are Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and Nauru

See also: French Polynesia


  Results from FactBites:
 
French Polynesia - Biocrawler (683 words)
French Polynesia is a French overseas "country" (French: pays d'outre-mer, or POM) in the southern Pacific Ocean.
French Polynesia has a moderately developed economy, which is dependent on imported goods, tourism and the financial assistance of mainland France.
In 2002, 69% of the population of French Polynesia lived in the island of Tahiti alone.
French Polynesia - Encyclopedia.com (1307 words)
French Polynesia is administered by a French-appointed high commissioner and by an elected assembly that elects a territorial president and a council of ministers.
European contact began in the 16th cent., and the area was widely explored by the French during the 18th and 19th cent., when French missionaries also came to the region.
France began testing nuclear weapons in some parts of French Polynesia in the 1960s, meeting with widespread local opposition; a series of six tests in 1995-96 was declared by France to be the last.
  More results at FactBites »


 
 

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