Faaite, or Faaiti is an atoll of the

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, extendin ...

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...

. It is located to the north of

Anaa Anaa, Nganaa-nui (or Ara-ura) is an atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago, in French Polynesia. It is located in the north-west of the archipelago, 350 km to the east of Tahiti. It is oval in shape, 29.5 km in length and 6.5 km wide, w ...

Atoll. The total surface of the atoll is Its dry land area is . Its length is and its width . The total population is 401 inhabitants. Faaite's inner lagoon has a navigable channel to the ocean. The main village is Hitianau, with a total population of 246.

History

The first recorded sighting of the atoll by Europeans was by the Spanish expedition of

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 " ...

on 11 February 1606. It was charted as ''Decena'' (ten in Spanish). John Turnbull rediscovered it in 1802. Turnbull was the first retailer of the Pacific who used the route of Tahiti to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. Russian oceanic explorer

Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen (russian: Фадде́й Фадде́евич Беллинсга́узен, translit=Faddéy Faddéevich Bellinsgáuzen; – ) was a Russian naval officer, cartographer and explorer, who ultimately ...

visited Faaite in 1820 on the ships ''Vostok'' and ''Mirni''. He named this atoll "

Miloradovich Count Mikhail Andreyevich Miloradovich (russian: Граф Михаи́л Андре́евич Милора́дович, sh-Cyrl, Гроф Михаил Андрејевић Милорадовић ''Grof Mihail Andrejević Miloradović''; – ...

". On September 2, 1987 six islanders were thrown into a fire and burned alive in an

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...

ceremony incited by an American religious group, the "Charismatic Renewal Cult".

Administration

Administratively Faaite belongs to the

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

, which includes the inhabited atoll of Faaite and the uninhabited atolls of

Tahanea Tahanea Atoll is an atoll of the Tuamotus, Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. It is located to the east of Faaite Atoll. Tahanea Atoll measures in length with a maximum width of . The southern reef fringing the atoll is wider than the n ...

and

Motutunga Motutunga Atoll is an atoll of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. It is located 17 km to the east of Tahanea Atoll. Motutunga Atoll is roughly triangular in shape. It measures 15 km in length with a maximum width of 14 ...

Transport

The island is connected to the world via

Faaite Airport Faaite Airport is an airport on Faaite Faaite, or Faaiti is an atoll of the Tuamotus in French Polynesia. It is located to the north of Anaa Atoll. The total surface of the atoll is Its dry land area is . Its length is and its width . Th ...

References

*Bruno Saura, ''Les bûchers de Faaite: paganisme ancestral ou dérapage chrétien en Polynésie française'', Cobalt/Editions de l'après midi. Paris 1990 Atolls of the Tuamotus {{FrenchPolynesia-geo-stub