Clipperton Island, also known as Clipperton Atoll and previously as Clipperton's Rock, is an 8.9 km2 (3.4 sq mi) uninhabited French coral atoll in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The only French territory in the North Pacific, Clipperton is 10,675 km (6,633 mi) from Paris, France; 5,400 km (2,900 nmi) from Papeete, French Polynesia; and 1,280 km (690 nmi) from Acapulco, Mexico.
French Polynesia is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) in the South Pacific Ocean. The total land area of French Polynesia is 3,521 square kilometres (1,359 sq mi), with a population of 278,786 of which at least 205,000 live in the Society Islands and the remaining population lives in the rest of the archipelago.
Nouméa is the capital and largest city of the French special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian, Indonesian, and Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians, Ni-Vanuatu and Kanaks who work in one of the South Pacific's most industrialised cities. The city lies on a protected deepwater harbour that serves as the chief port for New Caledonia.
The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands 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 over an area roughly the size of Western Europe. Their combined land area is 850 square kilometres. This archipelago's major islands are Anaa, Fakarava, Hao and Makemo.
The Austral Islands are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia, an overseas country of the French Republic in the South Pacific. Geographically, they consist of two separate archipelagos, namely in the northwest the Tupua'i islands consisting of the Îles Maria, Rimatara, Rūrutu, Tupua'i Island proper and Ra'ivāvae, and in the southeast the Bass Islands composed of the main island of Rapa Iti and the small Marotiri. Inhabitants of the islands are known for their pandanus fiber weaving skills. The islands of Maria and Marotiri are not suitable for sustained habitation. Several of the islands have uninhabited islets or rocks off their coastlines. Austral Islands' population is 6,965 on almost 150 km2 (58 sq mi). The capital of the Austral Islands administrative subdivision is Tupua'i.
The Gambier Islands are an archipelago in French Polynesia, located at the southeast terminus of the Tuamotu archipelago. They cover an area of 27.8 km2 or 10.7 sq mi, 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 south-east of the Mangareva Islands. The Gambiers are generally considered a separate island group from Tuamotu both because their culture and 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.
Lifou is a commune of France in the Loyalty Islands Province of New Caledonia, Pacific Ocean.
L'Île-des-Pins is a commune in the South Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. L'Île-des-Pins is made up of the Isle of Pines, the smaller Kôtomo Island, and several islets around these two, as well as the distant island of Walpole, which is located almost 150 kilometres to the east. The Isle of Pines and adjacent islands are located to the south of New Caledonia's mainland. At 16,830 km from Paris, L'Île-des-Pins is further from the French capital than any other commune of France. The settlement of Vao, on the Isle of Pines, is the administrative centre of the commune of L'Île-des-Pins.
Maré Island or Nengone is the second-largest of the Loyalty Islands, in the archipelago of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The island is part of the commune (municipality) of Maré, in the Loyalty Islands Province of New Caledonia.
The Society Islands are an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean that includes the major islands of Tahiti, Moʻorea, Raiatea, Bora Bora and Huahine. Politically, they are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the French Republic. Geographically, they form part of Polynesia.
Walpole Island is a small and uninhabited French island, 180 kilometres east of New Caledonia in the South Pacific. Although it is geographically part of the Loyalty Islands, administratively it doesn't belong to any province or commune.
Îles Maria or simply Maria, also known as Hull Island, is a small coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean. Its original name is Nororotu. The nearest island is Rimatara situated 205 kilometres to the ESE.
Vexillum cadaverosum is a species of small sea snail, marine gastropod mollusk in the family Costellariidae, the ribbed miters.
Overseas France consists of 13 French territories outside Europe, mostly the remnants of the French colonial empire that remained a part of the French state under various statuses after decolonisation. Most, but not all, are part of the European Union.
François André Jean Marie Doumenge was a French geographer who specialized in marine and island geography. His work focused on oceanography, the socio-economics of tuna fisheries, fisheries and Japanese aquaculture, and the evolution of the archipelagos of Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia.
The FO0XB Clipperton Island DXpedition was an amateur radio expedition that took place over two weeks in March and April 1978. The group left from San Diego on March 14, 1978 and was the first DXpedition to Clipperton Island in over 20 years and was the first a few other successful major DXpeditions including FO0XX (1985), FO0CI (1992), FO0AAA (2000), TX5C (2008), TX5K (2013) and TX5S (2024). The team was set up with three groups eight French members, six American members, and three Swiss members. The operators attempted to make contacts using the amateur radio satellite Oscar 7. Members of the expedition came from many walks of life including a police officer, medical doctor, teacher, horticulturist, and a judge. Contacts made with members of this expedition are mentioned by some ham radio operators as one of their more sought after and interesting contacts in their collection.
Michel Joseph Dubocage, seigneur de Bléville, was a French corsair, explorer, and merchant credited with first charting Clipperton Island.
Clipperton Rock is the highest point on Clipperton Island at 29 metres above sea level.
