Rangiroa

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Rangiroa
NASA image of Rangiroa
NASA image of Rangiroa
Waters Pacific Ocean
archipelago Tuamotu Archipelago
Geographical location 15 ° 8 ′  S , 147 ° 39 ′  W Coordinates: 15 ° 8 ′  S , 147 ° 39 ′  W
Rangiroa (French Polynesia)
Rangiroa
Number of islands about 240
Main island Avatoru
Land area 79 km²
Lagoon area 1 600  km²
Residents 2438 (2007)
Map of Rangiroa (1967)
Map of Rangiroa (1967)
Template: Infobox Atoll / Maintenance / HoeheFehlt

Rangiroa is the largest atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia . Rangiroa is also called Ra'iroa (translated: "wide sky") because of the clarity and width of the lagoon .

geography

and display information about the image
Rangiroa. MS Europa ship entry into the atoll between the Motus Reporepo and Hiputa

Rangiroa is located in the southern Pacific Ocean about 350 km northeast of Tahiti .

The atoll is 80 km long and between 5 and 32 km wide. The approximately 1600 km² large lagoon has a maximum depth of 35 m. It is surrounded by a ring of 240 motus (islands, total land area 79 km²) and about 100 narrow passages. In the north-west, near the villages, there are two deeper passages suitable for navigation. Rangiroa is the second largest atoll in the world after Kwajalein .

administration

Rangiroa is a " Commune associée " (sub-municipality) of the municipality of Rangiroa . In the northwest of the atoll are the villages Avatoru and Tiputa (main town with the local administration and the post office). There is a small airport ( IATA airport code RGI) between these villages, 10 km away .

population

Church on Rangiroa

After the census of 2002, the 2,334 inhabitants distributed in three villages:

  1. Tiputa (971)
  2. Avatoru (817)
  3. Ohotu (546)

They live from tourism , fishing (for export to Tahiti ), pearl fishing and copra . Rangiroa has a well-developed tourist infrastructure for the Tuamotus and is very popular with scuba divers . The political municipality of Rangiroa also includes the atolls Mataiva and Tikehau and the island of Makatea .

history

Rangiroa was probably settled by Polynesians around the 10th century . It was discovered on April 18, 1616 by the Dutchman Jacob Le Maire ; the first Europeans inhabited the atoll from 1851.

traffic

The Rangiroa Airport is situated 5.5 kilometers southeast from the village of Avatoru and can compete with its 2.1 km long slope next to private aircraft and smaller commercial aircraft. Roads for car traffic are only in and around the three villages in the north, the remaining parts of the island are sparsely populated or uninhabited and separated from each other by the numerous sea entrances; the most important means of transport here is the boat. The atoll is visited from time to time by cruise ships that bring their passengers ashore in motorized inflatable boats.

  • Views

  • West part of Rangiroa, the lagoon is on the right

  • Passage into the lagoon at Avatoru

  • Pearl farm workers

  • One of the innumerable motus

  • One of the uninhabited motus

  • Blue Lagoon

  • Local huts next to the blue lagoon

  • Shark feeding in the blue lagoon

See also

literature

  • Elisabeth Worliczek: Ethnography of Climate Change: The different perception and interpretation of environmental changes on a high island (Wallis) and an atoll (Rangiroa) in the francophone South Pacific. In: Pacific Dossier. 9.2010, pp. 13–63 online edition

Web links

Commons : Rangiroa  - collection of images, videos and audio files