Faaite
Faaite | ||
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NASA image by Faaite | ||
Waters | Pacific Ocean | |
archipelago | Tuamotu Archipelago | |
Geographical location | 16 ° 45 ′ S , 145 ° 14 ′ W | |
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Number of islands | - | |
Main island | - | |
Land area | 8.9 km² | |
Lagoon area | 227 km² | |
Residents | 366 (2007) |
Faaite is an atoll in the northwest of the Tuamotu Archipelago in the Pacific Ocean . The atoll is about 250 kilometers east of Tahiti and 60 kilometers north of Anaa Atoll . Administratively it belongs to French Polynesia and there to the municipality of Anaa .
The oval-shaped atoll has a total area of about 250 km², of which 227 km² are in the central lagoon and only 8.9 km² on land. The remaining area is taken up by coral reefs . The small land area of Faaite is distributed among numerous motus , especially in the north of the atoll. After the census of 2007 366 people lived on Faaite; The main town is Hitianau .
history
The atoll was probably discovered for Europe in 1802 by the British John Turnbull, the discovery by the Baltic German navigator Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen on July 16, 1820 is considered certain. He named the island "Miloradowitsch" after the Russian general Michail Andrejewitsch Miloradowitsch .
The atoll became important after the " Bûchers de Faaite " events: On September 2, 1987, 6 people, including children, were burned alive as part of an exorcism . The islanders believed that they were possessed by the devil.
In 1992 an airfield was opened on the island.
See also
Web links
- Image and short description (Engl.) ( Memento of 23 December 2010 at the Internet Archive )
- Census 2007 (PDF, French) ( Memento from February 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- Bûchers de Faaite (French) ( Memento from July 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive )