French Polynesia
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Status: Overseas Country
High Commissioner: Jean Aribaud
(1999)
President: Gaston Tong Sang (2006)
Land area: 1,413 sq mi (3,660 sq km);
total area: 1,609 sq mi (4,167 sq km)
Population (2008 est.): 283,019 (growth
rate: 1.4%); birth rate: 16.1/1000; infant mortality rate: 7.7/1000;
life expectancy: 76.5 density per sq mi: 77
Capital (2003 est.): Papeete (on Tahiti),
111,400 (metro. area), 30,200 (city proper)
Monetary unit: Pacific financial
community franc
Languages: French, Tahitian (both
official)
Ethnicity/race: Polynesian 78%, Chinese
12%, local French 6%, metropolitan French 4%
Religions: Protestant 54%, Roman Catholic
30%, other 10%, no religion 6%
National Holiday:
Bastille Day, July 14
Literacy rate: 98% (1977)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2003
est.): $4.58 billion; per capita $17,500. Real growth rate:
n.a. Inflation: 1.5% (2002 est.). Unemployment: 11.8%
(1994). Arable land: 1%. Agriculture: coconuts,
vanilla, vegetables, fruits, coffee; poultry, beef, dairy products.
Labor force: 70,000 (1996); agriculture 13%, industry 19%,
services 68% (2002). Industries: tourism, pearls,
agricultural processing, handicrafts, phosphates. Natural
resources: timber, fish, cobalt, hydropower. Exports:
$385 million f.o.b. (2004 est.): cultured pearls, coconut products,
mother-of-pearl, vanilla, shark meat. Imports: $1.437 billion
f.o.b. (2004 est.): fuels, foodstuffs, machinery and equipment.
Major trading partners: France, Japan, U.S., Niger, Thailand,
New Zealand, Singapore, Australia (2004).
Communications: Telephones: main lines
in use: 52,500 (2002); mobile cellular: 90,000 (2002). Radio
broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 14, shortwave 2 (1998). Radios:
128,000 (1997). Television broadcast stations: 7 (plus 17
low-power repeaters) (1997). Internet hosts: 5,123 (2003).
Internet users: 35,000 (2002).
Transportation: Railways: 0 km.
Highways: total: 2,590 km; paved: 1,735 km; unpaved: 855 km
(1999). Ports and harbors: Papeete. Airports: 50 (2004
est.).
International disputes: none.
Major sources and definitions
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The term French Polynesia is applied to
the scattered French possessions in the South Pacific—Mangareva
(Gambier), Makatea, the Marquesas Islands, Rapa, Rurutu, Rimatara, the
Society Islands, the Tuamotu Archipelago, Tubuai, Raivavae, and the island
of Clipperton—which were organized into a single colony in 1903.
There are 120 islands, of which 25 are uninhabited. The principal and most
populous island—Tahiti, in the Society group—was claimed by
the French in 1768. The indigenous people are mostly Maoris.
The Pacific Nuclear Test Center on the atoll of
Mururoa, 744 mi (1,200 km) from Tahiti, was completed in 1966. In 1975
worldwide opposition forced the French to move the testing underground on
Fangataufa. To compensate the residents for the nuclear weapons tests from
1995 to 1996, France offered a 10-year $194-million annual compensation
package. An independence movement continues to flourish in French
Polynesia. In 2004, France changed its status from a French Overseas
Territory to an Overseas Country, which gave French Polynesia more
autonomy over local affairs.
See also Encyclopedia: French Polynesia.
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