Tenarunga

Tenarunga

NASA picture of Tenarunga Atoll
Tenarunga
Geography
Location Pacific Ocean
Coordinates 21°19′S 136°32′W / 21.317°S 136.533°W / -21.317; -136.533Coordinates: 21°19′S 136°32′W / 21.317°S 136.533°W / -21.317; -136.533
Archipelago Tuamotus
Area 5 km2 (1.9 sq mi)  (lagoon)
2.3 km2 (0.9 sq mi) (above water)
Administration
France
Overseas collectivity French Polynesia
Administrative subdivision Tuamotus
Commune Gambier Islands
Demographics
Population Uninhabited[1] (2012)
Map of Tenarunga Atoll

Tenarunga or Tenania, formerly Minto Island is a low, wooded and uninhabited 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.

Geography

Tenarunga is located 15 kilometres (9 mi) northwest of Matureivavao, 6 kilometres (4 miles) west of Vahanga and 1,375 kilometres (854 miles) southeast of Tahiti. It has a land area of 2.3 square kilometres (0.9 square miles) and a total area (lagoon inclusive) of 5 square kilometres (2 square miles). 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)),[2][3] 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 Russell, commander of the H.M.S Actaeon, the name given to the group.[4] It was previously owned by a man named Captain Nicholas but was redeemed in 1934.[5]

Flora and fauna

The island is home to many rare species including the Tuamotu sandpiper.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Population". Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  2. ↑ Brand, Donald D. The Pacific Basin: A History of its Geographical Explorations The American Geographical Society, New York, 1967, p.136.
  3. ↑ Kelly, Celsus, O.F.M. La Austrialia del Espiritu Santo. The Journal of Fray Martín de Munilla O.F.M. and other documents relating to the Voyage of Pedro Fernández de Quirós to the South Sea (1605-1606) and the Franciscan Missionary Plan (1617-1627) Cambridge, 1966, p.39,62.
  4. ↑ Pacific Island: Eastern-Pacific - Geographical handbook series, James Wightman Davidson and Naval Intelligence Division, editions Naval Intelligence Division, 1945, p.224.
  5. ↑ Archaeology of Mangareva and neighboring atolls by Kenneth Pike Emory, editions Kraus, 1971, p.58-60.
  6. ↑ Dahl, prepared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas ; in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme ; based on the work of Arthur Lyon (1986). Review of the protected areas system in Oceania (Sept. 1986. ed.). Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. ISBN 9782880325091.


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