Îles du Désappointement
| Îles du Désappointement | ||
|---|---|---|
| Waters | Pacific Ocean | |
| archipelago | Tuamotu Archipelago | |
| Geographical location | 14 ° 6 ′ S , 141 ° 25 ′ W | |
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| Number of islands | 2 atolls | |
| Main island | Napuka | |
| Total land area | 12 km² | |
| Residents | 315 (2007) | |
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The Îles du Désappointement ( English : Disappointment Islands , German: "Islands of Disappointment") are a small group of atolls in the northeast of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia .
The atolls are called Tepoto Nord (14 ° 06'20 "S, 141 ° 25'20" W) and Napuka (14 ° 10'28 "S, 141 ° 13'50" W), which make up the municipality of Napuka . Often Puka-Puka (14 ° 49 'S, 138 ° 48' W) is also included, which is 260 km (Napuka) and 288 km (Tepoto North) to the southeast. The islands' arid climate makes them a sparsely populated, inhospitable place.
Demographics
The inhabitants are almost exclusively Polynesians . According to information from 2007, Tepoto Nord is inhabited by 44, Napuka by 271 and Puka-Puka by 162 people.
history
Tepoto Nord and Nepuka were settled by settlers from the neighboring Tuamotu Archipelago , Puka-Puka was settled by Fakahina at the beginning of the 20th century .
According to legend, the islands were named in 1519 by Ferdinand Magellan , who could not find a water source there on the way to the Philippines to replenish the ship's supplies. However, it is more likely and documented that the first known European explorer, John Byron , gave the islands their name in 1765 when he encountered a population there that was hostile to Europeans.
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.univie.ac.at/Voelkerkunde/apsis/oceania/byron.htm Austria-South Pacific Society