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Pinaki (French Polynesia)
Pinaki,Te Kiekie or Artomix is a small atoll of the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. Geographically Pinaki Atoll is part of the East-central subgroup of the Tuamotus, which includes Ahunui, Amanu, Fangatau, Hao and Nukutavake. Geography The island on its reef forms a broken ring almost enclosing a lagoon which has a shallow tidal spillway facing west. Pinaki lies 14 km southeast of Nukutavake, which is the closest land. Vairaatea Atoll lies 51 km to the west of Pinaki. Pinaki Atoll measures 3 km in length and its width is less than 2 km. It has a land area of 1.3 km2 and a lagoon area of 0.7 km2. Pinaki is uninhabited, but it is visited on occasions by villagers from neighboring Nukutavake. History The Englishman Samuel Wallis was the first recorded European to visit Pinaki Atoll on June 6, 1767, while searching for the " Southern Continent". Wallis named the atoll "Whitsunday". Frederick Beechey found Pinaki uninhabited in 1826, but he observed th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), to give the U.S. space development effort a distinctly civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. NASA has since led most American space exploration, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968-1972 Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. NASA supports the International Space Station and oversees the development of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System for the crewed lunar Artemis program, Commercial Crew spacecraft, and the planned Lunar Gateway space station. The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program, which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fangatau
Fangatau, or Nakai-erua, is a small atoll in the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. The nearest land is Fakahina Atoll, located 72 km to the ESE. This small atoll has an elongated shape. Its length is , maximum width . It has a total area of , land area 5.9 km2. Its reef encloses its lagoon completely. Anchorage is difficult. Fangatau Atoll has 135 inhabitants (2017 census).Répartition de la population en Polynésie française en 2017 , Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française Teana is the main village. History The first recorded European to arrive at Fangatau was |
Vahitahi
Vahitahi, or ''Vaitake'', is an atoll in the eastern area of the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia. Vahitahi's nearest neighbour is Akiaki, which is located to the northwest. Vahitahi is a small atoll with an elongated oval shape. It measures approximately in length and has a maximum width of . Its reef encloses completely the lagoon. The total land area of the islands on its reef is . The main village is called Mohitu (formerly Temanufaara). There were 105 inhabitants according to the 2012 census. History Vahitahi Atoll was the first land that Louis Antoine de Bougainville found in the Pacific in 1768. He called the atoll ''Les Quatre Facardins'', after a novel of the time. James Cook reached Vahitahi the following year and named it ''Lagoon Island''. Vahitahi has a territorial airport. It was inaugurated in 1986. Administration Administratively Vahitahi Atoll belongs to the commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commune In France
The () is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in the United States and Canada, ' in Germany, ' in Italy, or ' in Spain. The United Kingdom's equivalent are civil parishes, although some areas, particularly urban areas, are unparished. are based on historical geographic communities or villages and are vested with significant powers to manage the populations and land of the geographic area covered. The are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. vary widely in size and area, from large sprawling cities with millions of inhabitants like Paris, to small hamlets with only a handful of inhabitants. typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are ( or ), the difference residing in the lack of administrative powers. Except for the municipal arrondi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederick Beechey
Frederick William Beechey (17 February 1796 – 29 November 1856) was an English naval officer, artist, explorer, hydrographer and writer. Life and career He was the son of two painters, Sir William Beechey, RA and his second wife, Anne Jessop.John Wilson, 'Beechey, Sir William (1753–1839)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 200accessed 2 May 2017/ref> Born in London on 17 February 1796, he entered the Royal Navy at the age of 10 under the command of John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent. He was promoted to midshipman on February 8 1807 and saw active service during the War of 1812. He served in the Battle of New Orleans. Because of this, he was promoted to 2nd lieutenant on March 10 1815 In early 1818, and now a lieutenant, Beechey sailed on HMS ''Trent'' under Lieutenant John Franklin in David Buchan's Arctic expedition, of which at a later period he published a narrative. In the following year he accompanied Li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terra Australis
(Latin: '"Southern Land'") was a hypothetical continent first posited in antiquity and which appeared on maps between the 15th and 18th centuries. Its existence was not based on any survey or direct observation, but rather on the idea that continental land in the Northern Hemisphere should be balanced by land in the Southern Hemisphere.John Noble Wilford: The Mapmakers, the Story of the Great Pioneers in Cartography from Antiquity to Space Age, p. 139, Vintage Books, Random House 1982, This theory of balancing land has been documented as early as the 5th century on maps by Macrobius, who uses the term ' on his maps. Names Other names for the hypothetical continent have included ''Terra Australis Ignota'', ''Terra Australis Incognit ("the unknown land of the south") or ''Terra Australis Nondum Cognita'' ("the southern land not yet known"). Other names were ''Brasiliae Australis'' ("the southern Brazil"), and ''Magellanica'' ("the land of Magellan"). Matthias Ringmann calle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samuel Wallis
Samuel Wallis (23 April 1728 – 21 January 1795 in London) was a British naval officer and explorer of the Pacific Ocean. He made the first recorded visit by a European navigator to Tahiti. Biography Wallis was born at Fenteroon Farm, near Camelford, Cornwall. He served under John Byron, and in 1757 was promoted to captain and was given the command of HMS ''Dolphin'' as commander of an expedition accompanied by Philip Carteret on with an assignment to circumnavigate the globe.Quanchi, ''Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands'', page 248 As was reported in the press, he was also tasked with discovering the Southern Continent. The two ships were parted by a storm shortly after sailing through the Strait of Magellan. In June 1767, the expedition made the first European landfall on Tahiti, which he named " King George the Third's Island" in honour of the King. Wallis himself was ill and remained in his cabin so lieutenant Tobias Furnea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vairaatea
Vairaatea is a small atoll of the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. Geographically Vairaatea Atoll is part of the East-central subgroup of the Tuamotus, which includes Ahunui, Amanu, Fangatau, Hao and Nukutavake. Nukutavake, the closest land, lies to the east. Vairaatea Atoll measures in length and its width is about . Its reef has a roughly triangular shape. There are two long islands on it. The reef completely encloses a lagoon. Landing on this atoll is difficult on account of the surf and the lack of a safe anchorage. In 1989 Vairaatea was inhabited by eight families living in a village at the northern end of Puka Runga, the only inhabited island. According to the 2012 census, there were 57 people living in Vairaatea, a drop from 70 in 1996. History The first recorded European to arrive at Vairaatea was the Spanish explorer Pedro Fernández de Quirós on the 9 February 1606. He named this atoll ''San Miguel Arcángel''. However his captains Prado y Tovar and Vaéz de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hao (French Polynesia)
Hao, or Haorangi, is a large coral atoll in the central part of the Tuamotu Archipelago. It has c. 1000 people living on . It was used to house the military support base for the nuclear tests on Mururoa. Because of its shape, French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville named it "Île de la Harpe" (Harp Island). Geography Hao is east of Tahiti. It is long and wide. The lagoon is the fourth largest atoll in French Polynesia (after Rangiroa, Fakarava, and Makemo) and has only one navigable passage, at Kaki, on the north end of the atoll where strong currents prevail up to 20 knots with bores. The lagoon covers an area of 720 km2. The climate is maritime, with temperatures oscillating between 23 and 32 °C throughout the year. The chief town is the village of Otepa, where the main economic activity is the cultivation of pearls. Demography The main village is Otepa, and the population was 1066 inhabitants in the 2012 census, with a strong demographic increase si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amanu
Amanu, Timanu, or Karere, is an atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago. Amanu lies at right angles to neighbouring Hao Atoll; this orientation is quite rare for the Tuamotu atolls. It is situated 900 km east of Tahiti and 15 km north of Hao. The atoll is 32 km long (northeast to southwest) and 10 km wide, but only 15.55 km2 of its land is above water, the rest forming the central lagoon. The surface area of Amanu's wide lagoon is 240 km2. There are two navigable passes to enter it. Amanu has 195 inhabitants. The main village is Ikitake. History The first recorded European who arrived at Amanu Atoll was Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernández de Quirós who navigated for Spain, on 12 February 1606, while sailing across the Pacific Ocean in search of Terra Australis. However, several 16th-century Spanish cannons were found on Amanu in 1929, indicating that an earlier Spanish expedition had visited Tuamotu. Some historians notably Robert Adrian Langdon beli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Oceania in the west and the Americas in the east. At in area (as defined with a southern Antarctic border), this largest division of the World Ocean—and, in turn, the hydrosphere—covers about 46% of Earth's water surface and about 32% of its total surface area, larger than Earth's entire land area combined .Pacific Ocean . '' Britannica Concise.'' 2008: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. The centers of both the |
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