French Polynesia

French Polynesia is made of many islands in the Pacific Ocean.

The biggest island is Tahiti. The capital, Papeete, is there. People speak French and Tahitian.

French Polynesia is in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. It has about 130 islands in five groups. All the land together is small, but the islands are spread over a stretch of ocean five times the size of France.

French Polynesia belongs to France but has its own president and assembly, which run many local matters. French is the official language, and the Tahitian language is a key part of people's identity. The money is the CFP franc, and the capital is Papeete, on Tahiti, the largest island.

Britannica describes French Polynesia as an overseas collectivity of France consisting of five archipelagoes, some 130 islands between 7° and 27° S and 134° and 155° W, with a land area roughly equal to metropolitan Paris and London combined. Its official name is the Overseas Country of French Polynesia.

The President of France is head of state, represented by a high commissioner; a locally elected president heads the government, and the Assembly has 57 members. The territory became autonomous in 1984, was reclassified as an overseas collectivity in 2003, and gained more powers of self-government in 2004. French is official; the Statute of Autonomy names the Tahitian language a fundamental element of cultural identity. The currency is the CFP franc.

Papeete is a busy port on Tahiti.

Tahiti has two volcanoes joined together. Nearby are Moorea and Bora-Bora. Other islands are very far away.

Tahiti is made of two old volcanoes, Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Iti, joined by a narrow neck of land. Papeete, on the northwest coast, is the capital and a major port, and the international airport is next door at Faaa. The photo looks down from a plane on a coast near Papeete, with houses on green hills, a lagoon and a reef where waves break.

Moorea is about 20 kilometers northwest of Tahiti. Farther west is Bora-Bora, with two volcanic peaks rising above its lagoon. The Marquesas Islands are 1,450 kilometers to the northeast, and the Austral Islands 720 kilometers to the south. In 2024 the Olympic surfing contest was held at Teahupo'o, on Tahiti.

Tahiti (1,043 km²) consists of two eroded volcanic cones, Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Iti (the Taiarapu Peninsula), linked by the Isthmus of Taravao. Papeete, on the northwest coast, is the capital and a major transpacific port, with the international airport at Faaa. In the 2022 census the communes of Faaa (29,826), Punaauia (28,781) and Papeete (26,654) were the most populous.

Moorea lies about 20 km northwest of Tahiti. In the Leeward Islands, Raiatea and Tahaa share one barrier reef, and Bora-Bora rises in two volcanic peaks of 727 m and 661 m. The Tuamotu atolls lie to the east, the Gambier Islands, with Mangareva, at their southern end, the Marquesas 1,450 km northeast of Tahiti and the Austral Islands 720 km south. Teahupo'o, on Tahiti Iti, hosted the surfing competition of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Some islands are tall, with steep green mountains.

Others are low rings of coral. In the middle of each ring is a calm lagoon.

There are two kinds of islands here. The Society Islands, such as Tahiti, were made by underwater volcanoes. Their steep, green mountains are cut by deep valleys, and coral reefs ring them like a wall against the waves. The highest point, Mount Orohena on Tahiti, is 2,241 meters high.

The Tuamotus are about 80 low coral atolls: rings of coral land around a lagoon, some barely above the sea. The Marquesas are different again: they have no ring of reef, and their cliffs rise straight up from the ocean. On Tahiti it is warm all year, from about 24 °C in July to 29 °C in January.

The islands rise from parallel submarine ridges running northwest to southeast. Except for a few atolls, the Society Islands are highly eroded volcanic cones with high crests and deep radiating valleys, almost completely encircled by barrier reefs; Britannica gives Tahiti's summit as 2,241 m on its French Polynesia page and 2,237 m (Mount Orohena) on its Tahiti page. The Tuamotus, some 80 coral atolls with 689 km² of land, have porous soils and no permanent streams; Britannica describes their lagoons as a source of fish, pearls and mother-of-pearl.

UNESCO calls the Marquesas among the world's most "vertical" islands, with ridges and cliffs rising over 1,000 m above the ocean and no coral reefs. Tahiti lies in the easterly trade-wind belt: its wet south gets more than 2,500 mm of rain a year and its north about 1,800 mm, with rain mostly from December to March and average temperatures of 24 °C (July–August) to 29 °C (January–February).

Sharks swim in the sea around the islands. Sea turtles swim there too.

Whales visit the islands. Many seabirds build nests on the far-off Marquesas.

The waters of French Polynesia are a sanctuary for whales, dolphins and all kinds of sharks, and sea turtles and rays are protected too. The photos here were all taken off Moorea: a blacktip reef shark, a green sea turtle and a humpback whale calf.

The Marquesas Islands are especially rich in life found nowhere else. Twenty-one kinds of seabirds nest there, hundreds of dolphins gather in big groups, and two kinds of manta rays share the same diving spots, which is rarely seen anywhere else.

UNESCO notes that all Polynesian waters are a sanctuary for marine mammals and all shark species, and that protection rules cover 164 plant species, 39 bird species, all marine mammals, sharks, rays and sea turtles. The animal photos here (blacktip reef shark, green sea turtle, humpback calf) were taken off Moorea.

The Marquesas, inscribed as a mixed World Heritage site in 2024, rank first or second in the world for endemic species in several groups, including vascular plants, land and seabirds, molluscs and freshwater fish; 13.7% of coastal fish and 10% of mollusc species are found nowhere else. They are one of the world's few nesting sites for 21 seabird species, host dolphin pods in the hundreds, and are unusual for the reef manta and giant manta sharing the same dive sites. Invasive plants such as miconia and the African tulip tree threaten native forest.

Most people live on Tahiti and Moorea.

They speak French, and many speak Tahitian. Fishing, farming and visitors from far away are all part of island life.

About three out of every four people in French Polynesia live in the Windward Islands, Tahiti and Moorea. Most people have Polynesian roots, many with French or Chinese ancestors too, and French culture has had a big influence.

French is the official language, and Tahitian is a key part of local identity. Tahiti is an important center for tourism, and visitors arrive through Papeete's port and the airport at Faaa. Its warm climate suits crops such as coconuts, vanilla and coffee on the coastal plain.

The 2022 census counted 209,980 people in the Windward Islands, 36,007 in the Leeward Islands, 16,729 in the Tuamotu-Gambier, 9,478 in the Marquesas and 6,592 in the Austral Islands. Britannica describes a people basically Polynesian, with much admixture chiefly French and Chinese, and deeply influenced by French culture; it notes that people from the outer archipelagoes, where connections to Tahiti are poor, have long moved to Tahiti and Papeete.

Britannica's Tahiti article calls the island an important tourist center and says its climate suits coconuts (for copra), sugarcane, vanilla and coffee on the coastal plain. The painter Paul Gauguin lived on Tahiti in 1891–93 and 1895–1901, and a museum on the south coast is named after him.