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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] |
Nukutavake
Nukutavake or Nukutuvake is an island in the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. It lies 1125 km from Tahiti. The closest land is small Pinaki Atoll, located 15 km to the southeast. Vairaatea Atoll lies 38 km to the west of Nukutavake. Nukutavake's length is 5 km and its width between 0.45 km and 1.3 km. Nukutuvake is not a typical Tuamotu atoll, but a single island. It was formed when its lagoon filled up with silt, in a similar manner as Fuvahmulah in the Maldives, which has a similar size and shape. There are shallow remains of the lagoon filled with marshy vegetation. The higher ground has many coconut palms. Nukutavake has 177 inhabitants (2017 census); Tavananui is the largest town. Many islanders have left the island in recent years, mainly to Tahiti, in search for work. There are a number of abandoned houses on the island. The people who remain live primarily on fish and copra production. There is a cyclone shelter on Nukutavake. Histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ahunui
Ahunui or Nga-taumanga is a small atoll of the eastern Tuamotus, Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. It is located 55 km SSE of Paraoa Atoll and 120 km WSW of Vairaatea. Ahunui Atoll is roughly circular in shape and measures 6.5 km in diameter. It has a land area of approximately 5.4 km2 and a lagoon area of 34 km2. Its lagoon is totally encircled by the reef, so that it is not connected to the ocean by a pass. The islands have coconut plantations on them. Ahunui Atoll is permanently uninhabited, but it is visited occasionally by neighboring islanders. The rarer pipi oysters (''Pinctada maculata'') are found in its lagoon. History The first recorded European who arrived to Ahunui Atoll was British mariner Frederick William Beechey. He named it "Byam Martin" after Admiral of the Royal Navy, Fleet Sir Thomas Byam Martin. Administration Ahunui belongs to the Commune of France, commune of Hao (Main village: Otepa), which includes Ahunui (uninhabited), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuamotus
The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (french: Îles Tuamotu, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extending (from northwest to southeast) over an area roughly the size of Western Europe. Their combined land area is . This archipelago's major islands are Anaa, Fakarava, Hao and Makemo. The Tuamotus have approximately 16,000 inhabitants. The islands were initially settled by Polynesians, and modern Tuamotuans have inherited from them a shared Polynesian culture, culture and the Tuamotuan language. The Tuamotus are a overseas collectivity, French overseas collectivity. History The early history of the Tuamotu islands is generally unknown. Archaeological findings suggest that the western Tuamotus were settled from the Society Islands as early as 900 CE or as late as 1200 CE. DNA evidence suggests that they were settled about 1110 CE. On the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuamotu
The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (french: Îles Tuamotu, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extending (from northwest to southeast) over an area roughly the size of Western Europe. Their combined land area is . This archipelago's major islands are Anaa, Fakarava, Hao and Makemo. The Tuamotus have approximately 16,000 inhabitants. The islands were initially settled by Polynesians, and modern Tuamotuans have inherited from them a shared culture and the Tuamotuan language. The Tuamotus are a French overseas collectivity. History The early history of the Tuamotu islands is generally unknown. Archaeological findings suggest that the western Tuamotus were settled from the Society Islands as early as 900 CE or as late as 1200 CE. DNA evidence suggests that they were settled about 1110 CE. On the islands of Rangiroa, Manihi and Mataiva, t ... [...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] |
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] |
Pedro Fernández De Quirós
Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning "son of Peter" (compare with the English surname Peterson) is Pérez in Spanish, and Peres in Galician and Portuguese, Pires also in Portuguese, and Peiris in coastal area of Sri Lanka (where it originated from the Portuguese version), with all ultimately meaning "son of Pêro". The name Pedro is derived via the Latin word "petra", from the Greek word "η πέτρα" meaning "stone, rock". The name Peter itself is a translation of the Aramaic ''Kephas'' or '' Cephas'' meaning "stone". An alternate archaic spelling is ''Pêro''. Pedro may refer to: Notable people Monarchs, mononymously *Pedro I of Portugal *Pedro II of Portugal *Pedro III of Portugal *Pedro IV of Portugal, also Pedro I of Brazil *Pedro V of Portugal *Pedro II of Bra ... [...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] |
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 |
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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