..... Click the link for more information. , on Tahiti Tahiti , island (2002 pop. 169.674), South Pacific, in the Windward group of the Society Islands, French Polynesia. The capital is Papeete. Tahiti is the largest (402 sq mi/1,041 sq km) and most important of the French Pacific islands.
..... Click the link for more information. . The territory comprises five main groups: the Society Islands Society Islands, island group (2002 pop. 214,445), South Pacific, a part of French Polynesia. The group comprises the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands (total land area c.
..... Click the link for more information. ; Marquesas Islands Marquesas Islands , volcanic group (2002 pop. 8,712), South Pacific, a part of French Polynesia. There are 12 islands in the group, which lies c.740 mi (1,190 km) NE of Tahiti.
..... Click the link for more information. ; Austral Islands Austral Islands , volcanic island group (2002 pop. 6,386), South Pacific, part of French Polynesia. They are sometimes known as the Tubuai Islands. The group comprises seven islands, plus islets, with a total land area of c.115 sq mi (300 sq km).
..... Click the link for more information. ; Tuamotu Archipelago Tuamotu Archipelago or Low Archipelago, coral island group (2002 pop. 14,876), South Pacific, part of French Polynesia. They comprise c.80 atolls in a 1,300-mi (2,092-km) chain, with a total land area of c.330 sq mi (850 sq km).
..... Click the link for more information. ; and Gambier Islands Gambier Islands , volcanic islands (6 sq mi/15.5 sq km; 2002 pop. 1,097), South Pacific, near the southeast end of the Tuamotu Archipelago. The group is a part of French Polynesia.
..... Click the link for more information. . The small, uninhabited atoll of Clipperton Island Clipperton Island, uninhabited atoll, c.2 sq mi (5.2 sq km), in the Pacific Ocean, c.800 mi (1,290 km) SW of Mexico. It was used as a base by John Clipperton, an English pirate.
..... Click the link for more information. , c.3,400 mi (5,470 km) NE of Tahiti, is administered by France from French Polynesia.
Tropical fruits are grown on plantations, and cultured pearls, coconut oil, mother-of-pearl, vanilla, and shark meat are exported. Tourism is important to the economy. Foodstuffs, fuel, and equipment are the largest imports.
The inhabitants of the territory are mainly indigenous Polynesians or those of mixed Polynesian and European descent (known as Demis); about 55% are Protestant and 30% Roman Catholic. There is a considerable Chinese and a smaller French minority. French and Tahitian are both official languages. French Polynesia is administered by a French-appointed high commissioner and by an elected assembly that elects a territorial president and a council of ministers. The territory elects two deputies to the French national assembly and one member of the senate.
European contact began in the 16th cent., and the area was widely explored by the French during the 18th and 19th cent., when French missionaries also came to the region. The Marquesas and Society groups were annexed by France in 1842, Tahiti in 1844, and by the end of the 19th cent. the other islands had come under French administration. Uniform governance of the area began in 1903, and the islands became an overseas territory in 1946. France began testing nuclear weapons in some parts of French Polynesia in the 1960s, meeting with widespread local opposition; a series of six tests in 1995–96 was declared by France to be the last. Many inhabitants have sought a greater measure of independence from French control, and limited autonomy was awarded in 1984. In 2004 the territory became a French overseas country. France granted the territory greater autonomy in most local affairs and regional relations but retained control of law enforcement, defense, and the money supply.
Elections in May, 2004, brought a coalition of independents and pro-independence legislators to power, and Oscar Temaru, of the pro-independence Union for Democracy, became territorial president. Temaru's coalition lost a confidence vote in Oct., 2004, and Gaston Flosse, long-time leader of the government and an opponent of independence, was returned to power. The change led to political tensions in French Polynesia; at the same time, the French State Council called for rerunning the balloting for nearly two thirds of the seats. The Feb., 2005, revote enabled Temaru to form a new coalition, and he again became territorial president. Temaru again lost a confidence vote in Dec., 2006, and Gaston Tong Sang, the pro-autonomy mayor of Bora Bora, was elected to succeed Temaru.
French Polynesia
formerly French Oceania)
French Polynesia
French Polynesia
a group of islands in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean; a French possession (overseas territory) in Polynesia. Includes the Society Islands (the largest of which is Tahiti), the Marquesas Islands, the Tuamotus, and the Tubuais. Area, 4,000 sq km. Population, 120,000 (1973), mostly Polynesians; also Euro-Polynesian métis, French, Chinese, and others. The capital is Papeete, located on Tahiti.
Before the 1960’s, the economy was dominated by agriculture, fishing, the extraction of phosphorites, and pearl diving. The chief source of revenue was the export of copra and vanilla. Polynesia’s economy is controlled by French capital. With the construction of a test range for nuclear weapons on the atoll of Mururoa (far removed from populated islands), airports, roads, and a tourist complex on the islands of Tahiti, Moorea, and Bora-Bora, there has been an outflow of labor from agriculture into the service, trade, building, and processing industries.
Agriculture accounts for about one-fifth of the gross national product (1966), services and trade for one-half, and the processing industries for one-fourth. Agriculture is characterized by the coexistence of communal landholdings of the native population, with small-scale land use by members of the commune, and the plantations of the Europeans and métis. The bulk of agricultural output is produced by small farms. Exports include copra, vanilla, coconut oil, and pearls; imports include equipment, building materials, petroleum, textiles, and foodstuffs. Tourism is a major industry (48,800 people in 1970).
In the 19th century, France established its rule over the Marquesas (1842), Society, Tuamotu (1843), and other islands. By the time of French colonization, the indigenous population was at various stages of the disintegration of primitive relations and the formation of early class relations. Resistance to the colonizers consisted of unorganized local actions. In 1885 the islands were unified into the French Establishments in Oceania, which was the official name of the colony until 1958. During World War II, in September 1940, the colony’s population joined the Free French (Fighting French) movement. In March 1945 the inhabitants of French Polynesia received the rights of citizens of the metropolis and representation in the metropolitan parliament. In 1958, in atmosphere of an intensifying anticolonial movement, French Polynesia was given the status of an overseas territory.
REFERENCES
Ravva, N. P. Polineziia: Ocherk istorii frantsuzskikh kolonii (konets XVIII-XIX v.). Moscow, 1972.Huetz de Lemps, A. L’Océanie Française. Paris, 1954.
Rey Lescure, P. Abrégé d’histoire de la Polynésie Française. [Papeete] 1958.
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