Tenararo

Tenararo
	NASA picture of Tenararo Atoll
	Tenararo
Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	21°18′S136°45′W / 21.300°S 136.750°W Coordinates: 21°18′S136°45′W / 21.300°S 136.750°W
Archipelago	Tuamotus
Area	2 km2 (0.77 sq mi) (lagoon); 1.6 km2 (0.6 sq mi) (above water)
Administration
	France
Overseas collectivity	French Polynesia
Administrative subdivision	Tuamotus
Commune	Gambier Islands
Demographics
Population	Uninhabited [1] (2012)

Last updated May 12, 2020

Tenararo is the smallest 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. It is uninhabited.

Geography

Tenararo is located 6 kilometres (4 miles) west of Vahanga, the nearest island, 115 kilometres (71 miles) west of the Gambier Islands and 1,370 kilometres (850 miles) southeast of Tahiti. It is a circular atoll with a land area of 1.6 square kilometres (0.6 square miles) and a land area of 2 square kilometres (0.8 square miles). The atoll has a landing place on its NW side between the small boulders which encumber the reef. There is no entrance to the lagoon.

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 on 14 March 1828 by the explorer Hugh Cuming in his ship the Discoverer captained by Samuel Grimwood. The next visit was 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]

In the nineteenth century, Tenararo became a French territory, with a population of about 20 Aboriginal people in 1850.^[6]

Flora and fauna

The atoll is an important habitat for many endangered species. Species such as the Polynesian ground dove (of which there are less than 120 remaining in the wild), atoll fruit dove, Tuamotu sandpiper, bristle-thighed curlew and Murphy's petrel live on the island.^[7] The atoll is free of introduced mammalian predators, making it an essential conservational habitat.

Related Research Articles

The Tuamotus, also referred to in English as the Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands, are a French Polynesian chain of almost 80 islands and atolls forming the largest chain of atolls in the world. This archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean stretches from the northwest to the southeast over an area roughly the size of Western Europe. The total area of land within this chain is 850 square kilometres, with its major islands being Anaa, Fakarava, Hao and Makemo.

The Tuamotu sandpiper is an endangered member of the large wader family Scolopacidae, that is endemic to the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia. It is sometimes placed in the monotypic genus Aechmorhynchus. A native name, apparently in the Tuamotuan language, is kivi-kivi.

Hao (French Polynesia) Commune in French Polynesia, France

Hao, or Haorangi, is a large coral atoll in the central part of the Tuamotu Archipelago. It has c. 1000 people living on 35 km². It was used to house the military support base for the nuclear tests on Mururoa. Because of its shape, French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville named it "Île de la Harpe".

Matureivavao, or Maturei-vavao is an uninhabited atoll in the Acteon Group in the southeastern part of the Tuamotu Islands. It is the largest atoll within the Acteon Group, and like others in this group, is administratively part of the commune of the Gambier Islands.

Tenarunga or Tenania, previously Narunga and 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.

Vahanga is a small uninhabited atoll part of the Acteon Group in the Tuamotu archipelago, French Polynesia and belongs to the municipality of the Gambier Islands.

Anaa, Nganaa-nui is an atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago, in French Polynesia. It is located in the north-west of the archipelago, 350 km to the east of Tahiti. It is oval in shape, 29.5 km in length and 6.5 km wide, with a total land area of 38 km² and a population of 504. The atoll is made up by eleven small barren islands with deeper and more fertile soil than other atolls in the Tuamotus. The lagoon is shallow, without entrance, and formed by three main basins. Although it does not have any navigable access, the water of the lagoon renews by several small channels that can be crossed walking.

Amanu, Timanu, or Karere, is an atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago. Amanu lies at right angles to neighbouring Hao Atoll; this orientation is quite rare for the Tuamotu atolls.

The Polynesian ground dove is a critically endangered species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to the Tuamotus in French Polynesia with recent records from the atolls of Matureivavao, Rangiroa, Tenararo, Morane, Vahanga and perhaps Tikehau. It favors tropical forests, especially with Pandanus tectorius, Pisonia grandis and shrubs, but it has also been recorded from dense shrub growing below coconut palms. It is threatened by habitat loss and predation by introduced species such as cats and rats. The total population is estimated to be around 100-120 birds and it has already disappeared from several islands where it formerly occurred.

Takume or Pukamaru is an atoll of the Tuamotus chain in French Polynesia, located 790 km northeast of Tahiti and 6 km northeast of Raroia and 128 kilometres to the west of Fangatau.

Faaite, or Faaiti is an atoll of the Tuamotus in French Polynesia. It is located 60 kilometres to the north of Anaa Atoll. The total surface of the atoll is 227 square kilometres Its dry land area is 8.87 square kilometres. Its length is 28 kilometres and its width 10.5 kilometres. The total population as of 2012 is 401 inhabitants.

The Duke of Gloucester Islands is a subgroup of the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. They are located southeast of Tahiti and south of the main Tuamotu atoll cluster and are rather isolated.

The Acteon Group is a rather isolated and uninhabited subgroup in the far southeast of the Tuamotu atoll group in French Polynesia. It is located about 1,400 km (870 mi) east-southeast of Tahiti at latitude: 21° 17' 60 S, longitude: 136° 29' W.

Vairaatea is a small atoll of the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. Geographically Vairaatea Atoll is part of the East-central subgroup of the Tuamotus, which includes Ahunui, Amanu, Fangatau, Hao and Nukutavake. Nukutavake, the closest land, lies 38 kilometres to the east.

Marutea Atoll, also known as Marutea-i-runga, and Nuku-nui, is an atoll of the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia, part of the Gambier (commune). It is located in the far southeast of the archipelago, about 72 km northeast from Maria Atoll.

Tauere Atoll or Taouere, also known as Te Putua, is a small atoll of the central Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. It is located 85 kilometres northwest of Hao Atoll's westernmost point.

Anuanuraro is an atoll in French Polynesia, Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Duke of Gloucester Islands, a subgroup of the Tuamotu group. Anuanuraro's nearest neighbor is Anuanurunga, which is located about 29 km to the southeast.

Rekareka, Tehuata or Tu-henua, is an atoll of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. It is located in the Centre East of the group, 83 km southeast from Raroia, and lies 70 km NW of Tauere, its nearest neighbor. The shoal water of this small atoll extends 0.8 km seaward from its northern, western, and southern sides, and about 1.3 km from its south-eastern side. Rekareka has no fresh water and is uninhabited.

Temoe, or Te Moe, is a small atoll of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the far southeast of the Tuamotu group archipelago. It lies about 37 km southeast from the Gambier Islands and more than 1,700 kilometres southeast from Mataiva, at the other end of the Tuamotu archipelago.

Gambier (commune) Commune in French Polynesia, France

Gambier is a commune of French Polynesia in the archipelago of the Tuamotu Islands. The commune includes the Gambier Islands and several nearby groups of islands, including the Acteon Group, and the nearby atolls of Maria Est, Morane, Marutea Sud and Temoe, mostly uninhabited, and are sometimes mistakenly included among the Gambier Islands themselves. Its population was 1,535 at the 2017 census. Its total land area is 46.0 km².

References

↑ "Population". Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
↑ Brand, Donald D. The Pacific Basin: A History of its Geographical Explorations The American Geographical Society, New York, 1967, p.136.
↑ Kelly, Celsus, O.F.M. La Australia 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.
↑ Pacific Island: Eastern-Pacific - Geographical handbook series, James Wightman Davidson and Naval Intelligence Division, editions Naval Intelligence Division, 1945, p.224.
↑ Archaeology of Mangareva and neighboring atolls by Kenneth Pike Emory, editions Kraus, 1971, p.58-60.
↑ Notices sur les colonies françaises, Étienne Avalle, éditions Challamel aîné, Paris, 1866, p.642 Google Books
↑ 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.

Sailing Directions, Pub 126, "Pacific Islands" NIMA 2002; page-12

External links

Atoll list (in French)

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Population". Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française. Retrieved 26 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 Australia 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] Notices sur les colonies françaises, Étienne Avalle, éditions Challamel aîné, Paris, 1866, p.642 Google Books

[7] 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.