French Polynesia Geography - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Location

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

Geographic coordinates

15 00 S, 140 00 W

Map references

Oceania

Area

total: 4,167 sq km (118 islands and atolls; 67 are inhabited)

land: 3,827 sq km

water: 340 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly less than one-third the size of Connecticut

Land boundaries

total: 0 km

Coastline

2,525 km

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate

tropical, but moderate

Terrain

mixture of rugged high islands and low islands with reefs

Elevation

highest point: Mont Orohena 2,241 m

lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m

Natural resources

timber, fish, cobalt, hydropower

Land use

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.)

Irrigated land

10 sq km (2012)

Population distribution

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

Natural hazards

occasional cyclonic storms in January

Geography - note

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 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of French Polynesia 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about French Polynesia 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.