Takaroa, Taka-roa or Takapua, is an

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...

in the

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, extendin ...

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 ...

. It has a length of and a width of ; its

land area This is a list of the world's countries and their dependent territories by land, water and total area, ranked by total area. Entries in this list include, but are not limited to, those in the ISO 3166-1 standard, which includes sovereign s ...

is . The nearest land is

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 phytoplank ...

Atoll, located to the southwest. Fine pearls, including black pearls, were obtained in the

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

of Takaroa. Geographically Takaroa is part of the

King George Islands The King George Islands (''Îles du Roi Georges'') is a subgroup of the Tuamotus Archipelago group in French Polynesia. The King George Islands include four atolls and one island: * Ahe * Manihi * Takapoto * Takaroa * Tikei Island Tikei ...

(Iles du Roi Georges) subgroup, which includes

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 Manihi, or Paeua, is a coral atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago, part of French Polynesia. It is one of the northernmost of the Tuamotus, located in the King George subgroup. The closest land to Manihi is Ahe Atoll, located 14 km to the west. ...

, Takaroa and

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 s ...

. Takaroa Atoll has 674 inhabitants (2017). The main village is Teavaroa.

History

The first recorded Europeans to arrive to Takaroa were Dutch explorers

Jacob le Maire Jacob Le Maire (c. 1585 – 22 December 1616) was a Dutch mariner who circumnavigated the earth in 1615 and 1616. The strait between Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados was named the Le Maire Strait in his honour, though not without controvers ...

and

Willem Schouten Willem Cornelisz Schouten ( – 1625) was a Dutch navigator for the Dutch East India Company. He was the first to sail the Cape Horn route to the Pacific Ocean. Biography Willem Cornelisz Schouten was born in c. 1567 in Hoorn, Holland, Seven ...

on 14 April 1616 during their Pacific journey. They called this atoll "Sondergrond Island".

Captain Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

visited the island in 1774. Takaroa territorial airport was inaugurated in 1986.

Geography

Climate

Takaroa has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Am''). The average annual temperature in Takaroa is . The average annual rainfall is with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in March, at around , and lowest in August, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Takaroa was on 20 January 1998; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 10 January 1976.

Administration

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 ...

of Takaroa consists of the islands of Takaroa, Takapoto and Tikei.Décret n°72-407 du 17 mai 1972 portant création de communes dans le territoire de la Polynésie française

Légifrance Légifrance is the official website of the French government for the publication of legislation, regulations, and legal information. Access to the site is free. Virtually complete, it presents or refers to all concerned institutions or administrati ...

References

Atoll namesle Maire & Schouten

External links