Oceania, five archipelagoes (Archipel des Tuamotu, Iles Gambier, Iles Marquises, Iles Tubuai, Society Islands) in the South Pacific Ocean about halfway between South America and Australia
15 00 S, 140 00 W
Oceania
total: 4,167 sq km (118 islands and atolls; 67 are inhabited)
land: 3,827 sq km
water: 340 sq km
slightly less than one-third the size of Connecticut
total: 0 km
2,525 km
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
tropical, but moderate
mixture of rugged high islands and low islands with reefs
highest point: Mont Orohena 2,241 m
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
timber, fish, cobalt, hydropower
agricultural land: 12.5% (2018 est.)
arable land: 0.7% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 6.3% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 5.5% (2018 est.)
forest: 43.7% (2018 est.)
other: 43.8% (2018 est.)
10 sq km (2012)
the majority of the population lives in the Society Islands, one of five archipelagos that includes the most populous island - Tahiti - with approximately 70% of the nation's population
occasional cyclonic storms in January
includes five archipelagoes: four volcanic (Iles Gambier, Iles Marquises, Iles Tubuai, Society Islands) and one coral (Archipel des Tuamotu); the Tuamotu Archipelago forms the largest group of atolls in the world - 78 in total, 48 inhabited; Makatea in the Tuamotu Archipelago is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean - the others are Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and Nauru
NOTE: The information regarding French Polynesia on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of French Polynesia 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about French Polynesia 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
This page was last modified 16 Dec 23, Copyright © 2023 ITA all rights reserved.