Niau

Niau
NASA image by Niau
Waters	Pacific Ocean
archipelago	Tuamotu Archipelago
Geographical location	16 ° 9 ′  S , 146 ° 22 ′  W Coordinates: 16 ° 9 ′  S , 146 ° 22 ′  W
Number of islands	1
Main island	Niau
Land area	20 km²
Lagoon area	33 km²
Residents	226 (2012)
Map of Niau

Niau is an atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean , about 450 km northeast of Tahiti . Politically it belongs to French Polynesia and there to the municipality of Fakarava .

Niau is a nearly circular atoll with a diameter of about 8 km. The lagoon is completely enclosed by just one ring-shaped island. It is the second smallest atoll within the municipality of Fakarava.

history

The first sighting is attributed to Pedro Fernández de Quirós , who cataloged the island on February 12, 1606 as Decena (the "Tenth"). Niau was discovered for Europe on July 18th ^jul. / July 30, 1820 ^greg. from the Baltic German Admiral Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen . He named the island Greigh or Greig after the Russian admiral Samuel Greigh . The island was uninhabited in 1820, but boat remains were found. The name of the island is Fakaau in Rarotongan . In March 1824, Otto von Kotzebue recorded another sighting on his third circumnavigation. At that time Niau and the surrounding islands belonged to the sphere of influence of the Pomare royal dynasty of Tahiti . In 1866 the population is given as 30 inhabitants of Polynesian origin, the production of coconut oil as an economic asset .

The only place and main town is Tupuna in the northeast. The name of the island means something like coconut palm in Polynesian . In contrast to most other atolls, the island's soil is very fertile. Among other things, bananas, oranges and lemons are grown.

Population development

Population development for the years 1971–2012

census	1971	1977	1983	1988	1996	2002	2007	2012
Niau	?	139	147	163	160	151	171	226

traffic

In the north of the atoll is Niau Airport ( ICAO : NTKN; IATA : NIU).

nature and environment

Since 2006 Niau part of a UNESCO - Biosphere Reserve , the Fakarava Man and Biosphere Protected Area .

The endemic Tuamotuliest , ( Todiramphus gambieri niauensis ), a kingfisher species , of which 135 specimens were counted in 2012, is endemic .

See also

• List of Tuamotu Islands

Web link

• Map of Niau

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française (ISPF): Recensement de la population 2012. Chiffres clés sur la population: Subdivision, commune, commune associée (2) . (PDF; 1.3 MB). Retrieved October 23, 2014 (French).
2. ^ Henry Evans Maude : Spanish discoveries in the Pacific. In: The Journal of the Polynesian Society , Volume 68, No. 4, 1959, pp. 285-326. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
3. ^ F. Löwe: Bellingshausen trip to the South Seas and discoveries in the southern Arctic Ocean.  in the German Digital Library In: Archive for scientific customer of Russia. 2nd volume. Berlin 1842, pp. 125–174, here: p. 153 .
4. ^ Notices sur les colonies françaises. Paris 1866, p. 634.
5. ↑ Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française (ISPF): Recensement Général de la Population du 7 November 2002 . RET1c - Population par commune et commune associée aux recensements de 1971 à 2002 , p. 170 (PDF; 80 kB). Retrieved October 23, 2014 (French).
6. ↑ Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française (ISPF): Recensement de la population 2007 , p. 7 (PDF; 396 kB). Retrieved October 23, 2014 (French).
7. ↑ Todiramphus gambieri in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed October 23, 2014.