Tepoto, also known as Te Poto, Toho, or Pukapoto, is a

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

. It is the northwesternmost of the

Disappointment Islands The Disappointment Islands (french: Îles du Désappointement) are a subgroup of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. They are located towards the northeast, away from the main Tuamotu group. The Disappointment Islands are a small g ...

, in the

Tuamotu Archipelago 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 ...

. Despite being often referred to as "atoll", Tepoto is not a typical Tuamotu atoll, but a single separate island without a lagoon. It is located at the limit of the Tuamotu archipelago; the closest land is

Napuka Napuka, or Pukaroa, is a small coral atoll in the Disappointment Islands, in the northeastern part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. It is located only 15 km to the southeast of Tepoto Nord, its nearest neighbor, forming a s ...

, which lies to the southeast. Tepoto is long and wide; it has an area of . This island is sometimes called Tepoto Nord in French, to avoid confusion with Tepoto Atoll (Tepoto Sud) to the southwest, in the Raeffsky Islands of central Tuamotu. An obsolete name is Otuho. According to the 2012

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

, its population was 61 inhabitants. The primary village is Tehekega. There is a wide road running around the whole island. In 2018 there were about 40 residents, 13 of which were children under the age of 12.A Journey to the Disappointment Islands
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History

The first recorded European to arrive at Tepoto Nord was explorer John Byron in 1765. He named Napuka and Tepoto "Disappointment Islands" because of the lack of a safe anchorage and the hostility of the natives.

Administration

Tepoto Nord 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 ...

of Napuka. The commune of Napuka consists of the atolls of Napuka and Tepoto Nord.

References

Tepoto Nord

Atoll names

* French Polynesia
Islands of the Tuamotus {{FrenchPolynesia-geo-stub

History

Administration

References

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