The King George Islands (''Îles du Roi Georges'') is a subgroup of the
Tuamotus Archipelago group in
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 ...
.
The King George Islands include four atolls and one island:
*
Ahe
Ahe, Ahemaru or Omaru, is a coral atoll in the northern Tuamotus, Tuamotu Archipelago, 14 km to the west of Manihi, in French Polynesia. Its ring shape is broken by only a single small passage into the lagoon. It has a land area of approxi ...
*
Manihi
*
Takapoto
Takapoto, Tua-poto or Oura, is an atoll in the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. It has a length of and a width of .
The nearest land is Takaroa Atoll, located to the northeast.
Takapoto's lagoon has a high salinity and a strong phytoplankto ...
*
Takaroa
Takaroa, Taka-roa or Takapua, is an atoll in the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. It has a length of and a width of ; its land area is .
The nearest land is Takapoto Atoll, located to the southwest.
Fine pearls, including black pearls, w ...
*
Tikei
Tikei, also known as Manu, Tikai and Tiku is an island in the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. Tikei is not a typical Tuamotu atoll, but a separate island. The island is long, wide, and has a land area of . Its highest elevation is above sea ...
Island
Tikei is the easternmost island and Ahe Atoll is the westernmost of the subgroup. The distance between them is . Unlike the atolls of the
Palliser group that form a spindle from the northwest to the southeast, the King George Islands follow a
mirror image
A mirror image (in a plane mirror) is a reflected duplication of an object that appears almost identical, but is reversed in the direction perpendicular to the mirror surface. As an optical effect it results from reflection off from substances ...
pattern of grouping from southwest to the northeast.
History
The name "King George Islands" was given to this group by British explorer
John Byron
Vice-Admiral John Byron (8 November 1723 – 1 April 1786) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer. He earned the nickname "Foul-Weather Jack" in the press because of his frequent encounters with bad weather at sea. As a midshipman, he sa ...
, who reached Manihi, Takaroa and Takapoto in June 1765. In the 1880s, the Tuamotus were claimed by
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, and in 1946 the
indigenous Polynesians were granted the French
citizenship
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
.
Administration
Administratively there are two
communes in the King George Islands:
* The commune of Manihi consists of the atolls of Manihi and Ahe.
* The commune of Takaroa consists of the atolls of Takaroa and Takapoto, as well as Tikei Island.
References
GeoNames: Îles
Islands of the Tuamotus
Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean
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