Tekokota is one of the Central
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 ...
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 ...
s, located close to the geographic center of the archipelago.
Tekokota Atoll is one of the smallest atolls of the Tuamotus. Its islands have a total land mass of only .
Tekokota's shape is roughly
oval
An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one ...
and it is in length and in width.
The western side of Tekokota Atoll is submerged. The surface of its shallow central lagoon is .
Tekokota Atoll is uninhabited. The closest land to Tekokota is
Hikueru Atoll, located 22 km to the south.
History
Tekokota was first sighted by
James Cook in 1773. He named Tekokota Atoll "Doubtful".
Months later Spanish explorer
José de Andía called this atoll, "La del Peligro" (The Dangerous One).
A few days later, another Spanish navigator
Domingo de Boenechea
Domingo Bernardo de Bonechea Andonaegui ( eu, Domingo Bonetxea Andonaegi), born on September 21, 1713, in Getaria, Basque Country, Spain, died in Tahiti on January 26, 1775, was a captain in the Spanish Royal Navy and an explorer for the Spanish ...
sighted Tekokota on ship ''Aguila''. He named this atoll "Los Mártires".
NZTEC - Boenechea and Gayangos
/ref>
Administration
Tekokota Atoll belongs to the commune of Hikueru, which consists of the atolls of Hikueru, Marokau, Ravahere
Ravahere is an atoll of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. It is located 53 km northwest of Nengonengo Atoll and it is separated by a 2 km sound from Marokau Atoll, its closest neighbor to the north.
Marokau and Ravahere fo ...
, Reitoru
Reitoru, or Te Pirehi, is a small atoll of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. It is located in center of the archipelago, 50 km southwest of Hikueru.
The inner lagoon is closed and is inaccessible from the ocean. The total surfa ...
and Tekokota.
See also
* Desert island
A desert island, deserted island, or uninhabited island, is an island, islet or atoll that is not permanently populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereot ...
* List of islands
This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water
A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another plan ...
References
External links
NZTEC - Spanish voyages of the 18th century
{{FrenchPolynesia-geo-stub
Atolls of the Tuamotus
Uninhabited islands of French Polynesia