French Polynesia is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole overseas country. It comprises 118 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 4,167 square kilometres (1,609 sq mi).
Tahiti is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean. Divided into two parts, Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Iti, the island was formed from volcanic activity; it is high and mountainous with surrounding coral reefs. Its population is 189,517 inhabitants, making it the most populous island of French Polynesia and accounting for 68.7% of its total population.
Bora Bora is an island group in the Leeward Islands. The Leeward Islands comprise the western part of the Society Islands of French Polynesia, which is an overseas collectivity of the French Republic in the Pacific Ocean. Bora Bora has a total land area of 30.55 km2 (12 sq mi). The main island, located about 230 kilometres northwest of Papeete, is surrounded by a lagoon and a barrier reef. In the center of the island are the remnants of an extinct volcano, rising to two peaks, Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu; the highest point is at 727 metres. Bora Bora is part of the Commune of Bora-Bora, which also includes the atoll of Tūpai. The languages spoken in Bora Bora are Tahitian and French. However, due to the high tourism population, many natives of Bora Bora have learned to speak English.
Pōmare II, was the second king of Tahiti between 1782 and 1821. He was installed by his father Pōmare I at Tarahoi, February 13, 1791. He ruled under regency from 1782 to 1803.
Pōmare IV, more properly ʻAimata Pōmare IV Vahine-o-Punuateraʻitua, was the Queen of Tahiti between 1827 and 1877. She was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Tahiti.
Faaa is a commune in the suburbs of Papeete in French Polynesia, an overseas country of France in the Pacific Ocean. Faaa is located on the island of Tahiti, in the administrative subdivision of the Windward Islands, themselves part of the Society Islands. At the 2017 census Faaa had a population of 29,506, making it the most populous commune on Tahiti and in French Polynesia. Faaa has many mountains inland that can reach 1,500 m (5,000 ft). Mount Marau is an extinct volcano in the inland limits and can be seen from nearby Moorea. The area of Faaa is 9 m (30 ft) above mean sea level on average.
Mahina is a commune in the suburbs of Tahiti in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. Mahina is located on the island of Tahiti, in the administrative subdivision of the Windward Islands, themselves part of the Society Islands. Mahina is the 5th most populous commune in French Polynesia with a population of 14,764, in an area of 52 km2. Mount Orohena is a nearby mountain.
Bobby Holcomb (1947–1991) was an artist and musician who wrote popular Polynesian tunes.
MonsignorMichel-Gaspard Coppenrath was the Tahitian Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Papeete in French Polynesia for 26 years from 1973 until 1999. Coppenrath served as the Archbishop Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Papeete from 1999 until his death in 2008. Coppenrath was the first Tahitian-born Catholic bishop of French Polynesia.
France was present at the Eurovision Song Contest 1981, held in Dublin, Ireland.
The Tahitians, are the Indigenous Polynesian people of Tahiti and thirteen other Society Islands in French Polynesia, as well as the modern population of these lands of multiracial, primarily Polynesian-French, ancestry. Indigenous Tahitians are one of the largest Polynesian ethnic groups, behind the Māori, Samoans and Hawaiians.
Pouvanaa a Oopa was a French politician and Tahitian (Maohi) nationalist, who led a Tahitian separatist movement against French rule in French Polynesia, before being exiled to France in the late 1950s.
The Democratic Rally of the Tahitian People was a political party in French Oceania/French Polynesia. The party was led by Pouvanaa a Oopa.
Viking Records was an independent and prominent record label that featured many New Zealand and Polynesian recording artists.
The Pōmare Dynasty was the reigning family of the Kingdom of Tahiti between the unification of the islands by Pōmare I in 1788 and Pōmare V's cession of the kingdom to France in 1880. Their influence once spanned most of the Society Islands, the Austral Islands and the Tuamotu Archipelago.
Teriitaria II or Teri'itari'a II, later known as Pōmare Vahine and Ari'ipaea Vahine, baptized Taaroamaiturai, became Queen of Tahiti when she married King Pōmare II and later, she ruled as Queen of Huahine and Maiao in the Society Islands.
Marie Mariterangi, Marie Mariteragi, Marie Terangi or Marie was a singer, songwriter of Polynesian pop music, guitarist and ukulele player. She was born on May 3, 1926 in Hikueru in French Polynesia and died on April 27, 1971 in Papeete in French Polynesia.
Teriʻivaetua was a member of the Pōmare Dynasty and the heiress apparent when the Kingdom of Tahiti was annexed by France in 1880. Her name Teri'i-vae-tua means Sovereign-distributing-the-ocean in Tahitian.
Tapoa II (1806–1861) was the king of the Tahitian island of Bora Bora from 1831 to 1861.
Tiripone Mama Taira Putairi, SS.CC., (1846–1881) was educated by French missionaries from birth and became the first indigenous Roman Catholic priest ordained in Eastern Polynesia. He was part of the native royal family of Mangareva, and his father Bernardo Putairi was the island's last ruling regent.
