Tureia

Tureia

Tureia
Tureia
Geography
Location Pacific Ocean
Coordinates 20°46′16″S 138°33′53″W / 20.77111°S 138.56472°W / -20.77111; -138.56472
Archipelago Tuamotus
Area 47 km2 (18 sq mi)  (lagoon)
8 km2 (3 sq mi) (above water)
Length 15 km (9.3 mi)
Width 8 km (5 mi)
Administration
France
Overseas collectivity French Polynesia
Administrative subdivision Tuamotus
Commune Tureia
Largest settlement Hakamaru
Demographics
Population 243[1] (2012)
Tureia

NASA image of Tureia Atoll.
Coordinates: 20°46′16″S 138°33′53″W / 20.771228°S 138.564828°W / -20.771228; -138.564828Coordinates: 20°46′16″S 138°33′53″W / 20.771228°S 138.564828°W / -20.771228; -138.564828
Country France
Overseas collectivity French Polynesia
Area 8 km2 (3 sq mi)
Population (2012)1 301
 • Density 38/km2 (97/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 98755 / 
1 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Tureia (also called Papahena) is an atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia.

Tureia atoll is 15 km long and has a maximum width of 8 kilometres (5.0 miles); its total land area is 8 km2. A very long island covers completely its eastern reef. The lagoon has no entrance.

The village of Hakamaru (or Fakamaru) is the only settlement on Tureia, at the northern tip of the atoll. Almost all of the arable land on Tureia is dedicated to growing coconuts. The population in this atoll has risen to almost 250; in 1977 there were only 121 inhabitants.

History

The first recorded European to arrive to Tureia was Captain Edward Edwards in 1791, during his search for the Bounty mutineers. Edwards called the atoll "Carysfort", after John Proby, 1st Earl of Carysfort.

From 1966 to 1999, Tureia hosted an outpost of the Centre d'Expérimentation du Pacifique, the French authority supervising nuclear tests on the nearby atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa, which lie about 115 km south of Tureia. There was also a weather station on Tureia during those years. Currently, both installations have been abandoned.

This atoll has a 900 m-long airstrip (IATA: ZTA, ICAO: NTGY). Tureia Airport was inaugurated in 1985.

Map of Tureia Atoll, Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia

Administration

Administratively Tureia Atoll is the capital of the commune of Tureia, which includes the atolls of Fangataufa, Moruroa, Tematangi and Vanavana.

References

  1. ↑ "Population". Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
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