Geography | |
---|---|
Location | Pacific Ocean |
Coordinates | 16°40′S144°13′W / 16.667°S 144.217°W |
Archipelago | Tuamotus |
Area | 26 km2 (10 sq mi) (lagoon) 6 km2 (2 sq mi) (above water) |
Length | 9.5 km (5.9 mi) |
Width | 6.5 km (4.04 mi) |
Administration | |
France | |
Overseas collectivity | French Polynesia |
Administrative subdivision | Tuamotus |
Commune | Makemo |
Demographics | |
Population | 6 [1] (2017) |
Tuanake or Mata-rua-puna [2] is a small atoll located in the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. It made up the Raevski Islands subgroup with Tepoto Sud and Hiti. It is administratively attached to the municipality of Makemo.
Tuanake is located 7.5 kilometres (4.7 miles) west of Hiti, the nearest island, and 545 km east of Tahiti. It is a small semi-circular atoll 9.5 kilometres (5.9 miles) in length and 6.5 kilometres (4.0 miles) in maximum width for an emerged area of 6 square kilometres (2.3 square miles). Its 26 square kilometres (10 square miles) lagoon is accessible by a very shallow pass located to the south.
Tuanake has long been permanently uninhabited, but the 2017 census counts six inhabitants. [1]
The first recorded European to sight Tuanake was Russian explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen on July 15, 1820, who named it “Raevski Island”. [3] [4] During his expedition, the American navigator Charles Wilkes approached him on December 20, 1840, notified the name of "Tunaki" and named him Reid Island. [3]
In the nineteenth century, Tuanake became a French territory then populated by a few indigenous inhabitants who obey the chief of Katiu just like the Tepoto Sud and Hiti atolls. [5]
Tuanake belongs to the commune of Makemo, which consists of the atolls of Makemo, Haraiki, Marutea Nord, Katiu, Tuanake, Hiti, Tepoto Sud, Raroia, Takume, Taenga and Nihiru. Tuanake Atoll is permanently uninhabited.
Traditional fishing is practiced with the use of two fish parks located on hoas in the south of the atoll. [6] In recent years, Tuanake has been exploited by the inhabitants of Katiu for sea cucumber fishing for export to Asia. [7]
The presence of individuals of the species Acrocephalus atyphus and Gallicolumba erythroptera, an extremely threatened species with only about one hundred individuals recorded in the Pacific, has been reported in Tuanake as well as an endemic population of Tuamotu sandpipers. [8]
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.
Tepoto, also known as Te Poto, Toho, or Pukapoto, is a coral island. It is the northwesternmost of the Disappointment Islands, in the Tuamotu Archipelago. Despite being often referred to as "atoll", Tepoto is not a typical Tuamotu atoll, but a single separate island without a lagoon. It is located at the limit of the Tuamotu archipelago; the closest land is Napuka, which lies 16 kilometres to the southeast.
Tepoto Atoll, or Ti Poto, is a small atoll of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. It is located 44 kilometres southwest of Makemo Atoll.
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 (14 sq mi). 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".
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.
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.
Makemo, Rangi-kemo or Te Paritua, is an inhabited atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago in French Polynesia.
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.
Raroia, or Raro-nuku, is an atoll of the Tuamotus chain in French Polynesia, located 740 km northeast of Tahiti and 6 km southwest of Takume. Administratively it is a part of the commune of Makemo.
Fakarava, Havaiki-te-araro, Havai'i or Farea is an atoll in the west of the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. It is the second largest of the Tuamotu atolls. The nearest land is Toau, a coral atoll which lies 14 kilometres to the northwest.
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 2022 is 440 inhabitants.
The Raeffsky Islands or Raevski Islands is a subgroup with just over 3000 people in the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. They are located roughly in the central area of the main Tuamotu atoll cluster. Named after Nikolay Raevsky, a Russian general of the Napoleonic wars.
Marutea, or Taunga tauranga-e-havana, is one of the Tuamotu atolls in French Polynesia. It is located 24 km to the southeast of Makemo Atoll and 30 km southwest of Nihiru Atoll.
Nihiru, or Nikia, is one of the Tuamotu atolls in French Polynesia. It is a relatively small atoll located 49 km to the east of Makemo Atoll and 30 km northeast of Marutea Atoll.
Taenga, or Taunga-hara, is one of the Tuamotu atolls in French Polynesia. It is located 32 km to the northeast of Makemo Atoll and 27 km to the northwest of Nihiru Atoll.
Haraiki is a small atoll of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. It is located 42 km southwest of Marutea Nord.
Hiti, or Hiti-rau-mea, is a small atoll of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. It is located 19 km southwest of Makemo Atoll.
Katiu, or Taungataki, is an atoll of the central Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. It is located 23.5 kilometres west of Makemo Atoll's westernmost point. It measures 27 kilometres in length with a maximum width of 12.5 kilometres. Its total area, including the lagoon is 232.5 square kilometres and a land area of approximately 10 square kilometres. There are many narrow islands on the north-eastern side of its long reef with a total land area of about 3 square kilometres. Its lagoon is connected to the ocean.
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.