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Tenarunga
Tenarunga or Tenania, previously Narunga and formerly Minto Island, is a low, wooded atoll in the Acteon Group in the southeastern part of the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia. It is administratively a part of the Gambier Islands. The atoll has a population of between 10 and 50 people. Geography Tenarunga is located northwest of Matureivavao, west of Vahanga and southeast of Tahiti. It has a land area of and a total area (lagoon inclusive) of . There are some buildings and a dock located on the north-east side of the island, indicating former and/or seasonal habitation. The atoll's lagoon is not accessible from the sea. History The first recorded sighting of this atoll was made during the Spanish expedition of the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 5 February 1606 under the name ''Las Cuatro Coronadas'' (the "four crowned" (by coconut palms)); however, these observations were not fully documented. As such, the first unambiguous approach to the island wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acteon Group
The Acteon Group (Groupe Actéon) is a rather isolated and uninhabited subgroup in the far southeast of the Tuamotu atoll group in French Polynesia. It is located about east-southeast of Tahiti at latitude: 21° 17' 60 S, longitude: 136° 29' W. Atolls The Acteon Group includes four atolls of relatively small size: * Matureivavao * Tenararo * Tenarunga * Vahanga None of the islands on these atolls have permanent inhabitants, except for Tenarunga. History The first recorded European to sight the Acteon Group was 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, meani ... on 5 February 1605. He described the group as ''"four atolls crowned by coconut palms"''. On the different texts describing his voyage by other members of this Spanish expedition they were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matureivavao
Matureivavao, or Maturei-vavao is an uninhabited atoll in the Acteon Group in the southeastern part of the Tuamotu Islands. It is the largest atoll within the Acteon Group, and like others in this group, is administratively part of the commune of the Gambier Islands. Geography Matureivavao is about long in a NNW-SSE direction and wide. It has a land area of and a lagoon area of . It lies southeast of Tenarunga and from Tahiti. The atoll is high enough to be visible from a considerable distance. It appears as a sandy beach, backed by a line of dark green. In bad weather, the seas sometimes sweep over the reef. There is no entrance to the lagoon. In some maps, this atoll also appears as "Melbourne". History The first recorded sighting of this atoll was made during the Spanish expedition of the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 5 February 1606 under the name ''Las Cuatro Coronadas'' (the "four crowned" (by coconut palms)), however, these observations were n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vahanga
Vahanga is a small uninhabited atoll part of the Acteon Group in the Tuamotu Islands, Tuamotu archipelago, French Polynesia and belongs to the municipality of the Gambier Islands. Geography Vahanga is located 9 km west of Tenarunga and 1362 km southeast of Tahiti. It is a circular atoll with a diameter of 3.6 km and an area of 3.8 km2 (12.6 km2 lagoon inclusive). It is a low atoll with a landing place on the northwest side of the island near a white house, but there is no access to the lagoon. History The first recorded sighting of this atoll was made during the Spanish expedition of the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 5 February 1606 under the name ''Las Cuatro Coronadas'' (the "four crowned" (by coconut palms)), however these observations were not fully documented. As such, the first unambiguous approach to the island was made in 1833 by navigator Thomas Ebrill on his merchant vessel ''Amphitrite'' and again in 1837 by Lord Edward ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gambier Islands
The Gambier Islands ( or ) are an archipelago in French Polynesia, located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They cover an area of , and are made up of the Mangareva Islands, a group of high islands remnants of a caldera along with islets on the surrounding fringing reef, and the uninhabited Temoe atoll, which is located 45 km (28 mi) south-east of the Mangareva Islands. The Gambiers are generally considered a separate island group from Tuamotu both because their culture and language (Mangarevan language, Mangarevan) are much more closely related to those of the Marquesas Islands, and because, while the Tuamotus comprise several chains of coral atolls, the Mangareva Islands are of volcanic origin with central high islands. Administratively, the Gambier Islands are inside the Communes of France, commune of Gambier (commune), Gambier, which also includes several atolls in the Tuamotu Archipelago. The town hall (''mairie'') of the commune of Gambier is located o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuamotu Islands
The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (, 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, extending (from northwest to southeast) over an area roughly the size of Western Europe. Their combined land area is . This archipelago's major islands are Rangiroa, Anaa, Fakarava, Hao and Makemo. The Tuamotus have approximately 16,000 inhabitants. The islands were initially settled by Polynesians, and modern Tuamotuans have inherited from them a shared culture and the Tuamotuan language. The Tuamotus are a French overseas collectivity. History The early history of the Tuamotu islands is generally unknown. Archaeological findings suggest that the western Tuamotus were settled from the Society Islands as early as 900 CE or as late as 1200 CE. DNA evidence suggests that they were settled about 1110 CE. On the islands of Rangiroa, Manihi and Mataiva, there ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuamotu Sandpiper
The Tuamotu sandpiper (''Prosobonia parvirostris'') is an endangered member of the large wader family Scolopacidae, that is endemic to the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia. It is sometimes placed in the monotypic genus ''Aechmorhynchus''. A native name, apparently in the Tuamotuan language, is ''kivi-kivi''. Description The long Tuamotu sandpiper is a small, short-winged, mottled brown bird with more or less barred underparts. Its short sharp beak is more like that of an insectivorous passerine than a wader. There are two colour morphs which intergrade. Pale birds are medium brown above and white below, with light barring or spotting on the breast and whitish streaking on the head. The bold supercilium and the chin are also white. The rectrices are brown with white tips and white triangular markings on the outer webs. Dark phase birds replace medium with darker brown and white with light buff or tawny white. The flanks are brown, and the entire underparts are heavily barred ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gambier (commune)
Gambier () is a commune of French Polynesia in the administrative subdivision of the Tuamotu-Gambier Islands. The commune includes the Gambier Islands as well as several atolls in the Tuamotu Archipelago (the Acteon Group and the isolated atolls of Maria Est, Morane, and Marutea Sud). All the Tuamotu atolls belonging to the commune are uninhabited except for Marutea Sud, and are sometimes mistakenly included among the Gambier Islands themselves. The commune population was 1,570 at the 2022 census. Its total land area is 45.97 km2. Administration The commune of Gambier is made up of the following islands: * Akamaru *Angakauitai * Aukena * Kamaka * Makaroa *Mangareva * Manui * Maria * Marutea Sud * Matureivavao * Morane * Taravai * Temoe *Tenararo *Tenarunga *Vahanga The chef-lieu of the commune is the village Rikitea [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenararo
Tenararo is the smallest atoll in the Acteon Group in the southeastern part of the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia. It is administratively a part of the Gambier Islands. It is uninhabited. Geography Tenararo is located west of Vahanga, the nearest island, west of the Gambier Islands and southeast of Tahiti. It is a circular atoll with a land area of and a land area of . The atoll has a landing place on its NW side between the small boulders which encumber the reef. There is no entrance to the lagoon. History The first recorded sighting of this atoll was made during the Spanish expedition of the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 5 February 1606 under the name ''Las Cuatro Coronadas'' (the "four crowned" (by coconut palms)), however these observations were not fully documented. As such, the first unambiguous approach to the island was made on 14 March 1828 by the explorer Hugh Cuming in his ship the Discoverer captained by Samuel Grimwood. The next visit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuamotus
The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (, 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, extending (from northwest to southeast) over an area roughly the size of Western Europe. Their combined land area is . This archipelago's major islands are Rangiroa, Anaa, Fakarava, Hao and Makemo. The Tuamotus have approximately 16,000 inhabitants. The islands were initially settled by Polynesians, and modern Tuamotuans have inherited from them a shared culture and the Tuamotuan language. The Tuamotus are a French overseas collectivity. History The early history of the Tuamotu islands is generally unknown. Archaeological findings suggest that the western Tuamotus were settled from the Society Islands as early as 900 CE or as late as 1200 CE. DNA evidence suggests that they were settled about 1110 CE. On the islands of Rangiroa, Manihi and Mataiva, there ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Ebrill
Thomas Ebrill (also spelt Abrill) was a British merchant, who from 1826 to 1842 worked with the ships the ''Minerva'', ''Star'' and ''Amphitrite'' in the Pacific Ocean and is known for his discovery of the Acteon group. Life Ebrill's early life is unknown. He lived in Tahiti in 1820 along with his brother-in-law Samuel Pinder Henry with whom he had a sugar cane plantation. His numerous trade and transport trips had taken him throughout Polynesia but also to Sydney in Australia and Valparaíso in Chile. From 1832 to 1839 he ran a pearl farm on the Gambier Islands but in 1833, he discovered the Acteon group whilst captain of the ''Amphitrite''. In 1839 he came to the aid of the French captain Cyrille Pierre Théodore Laplace who was stranded on the reef of Tahiti. On 1 November 1842 at the Isle of Pines, New Caledonia, Ebrill and his crew fell victim of an attack by the Melanesians Melanesians are the predominant and Indigenous peoples of Oceania, indigenous inhabitants of Mel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desert Island
An uninhabited island, desert island, or deserted island, is an island, islet or atoll which lacks permanent human population. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereotypes for the idea of "paradise". Some uninhabited islands are protected as nature reserves, and some are privately owned. Devon Island in Canada's far north is the largest uninhabited island in the world. Small coral atolls or islands usually have no source of fresh water, but occasionally a freshwater lens can be reached with a well. Terminology Uninhabited islands are sometimes also called "deserted islands" or "desert islands". In the latter, the adjective ''desert'' connotes not desert climate conditions, but rather "desolate and sparsely occupied or unoccupied". The word ''desert'' has been "formerly applied more widely to any wild, uninhabited region, including forest-land", and it is this archaic meaning that appears in the phrase "d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
