Tematangi

Tematangi
NASA image by Tematangi
Waters	Pacific Ocean
archipelago	Tuamotu Archipelago
Geographical location	21 ° 41 ′  S , 140 ° 38 ′  W Coordinates: 21 ° 41 ′  S , 140 ° 38 ′  W
Number of islands	approx. 50
Land area	7.7 km²
Lagoon area	61 km²
Residents	53 (2002)
Location of Tematangi (3)

Tematangi , also written Te Matangi , is an atoll that geographically belongs to the Tuamotu Archipelago in the Southeast Pacific, politically to French Polynesia . The nearest island is the atoll Mururoa, 177 km to the east, made famous by the French nuclear weapons tests .

geography

Tematangi emerged from a hotspot of the Tuamotu Seamout Trail, which rises 4120 m from the ocean floor. The approximately triangular shaped, 11.5 km long and 7 km wide Tematangi is a geologically old atoll (44.6 to 47.4 million years old), the central mountain of which has sunk below sea level for a long time. Only the wreath of 22 motu remains. Together they have a land area of ​​only 7.7 km², but the total area of ​​Tematangis, including the lagoon , is 61 km². The lagoon has no navigable access to the sea.

The original island vegetation consisted of an open forest of low-growing trees and bushes, which is common for the Tuamotus. There are only a few, meager remnants left. Today almost all motu of the atoll, even the smaller ones, are covered with coconut plantations.

history

It is unclear whether the atoll was permanently inhabited by Native Polynesians. The reports of the European explorers are contradicting one another, and empirical archaeological research has not yet been carried out.

It has been speculated that Tematangi is identical to the "Osnaburgh Island" discovered by Philipp Carteret on July 11, 1767. But even William Beechey doubted it.

William Bligh discovered Tematangi on April 5, 1792 on his second voyage to procure breadfruit trees with the sloop HMS Providence (his command after the mutiny on the Bounty ) for Europe. He thought the islands were uninhabited. Bligh's discovery led Tematangi to appear on some maps under the name "Bligh's Lagoon" or "Bligh (s) Island". Captain Bligh wrote the following entry in his log :

“Saw a low lagoon island from SW to W. ½ N., at a distance of four or five miles. We hoisted a signal and pulled it up; there was tremendous surf on the bank; on the beach we saw a few brown Noddise Terns with a white spot and a few coconut trees on the south-western tip, but no inhabitants. When we explored the island, we immediately saw the breakers of the surf. The coast stretches for about 22 miles; it is eight miles from east to most westerly point, and it is nearly nine miles from southwest to northeast across a lagoon that takes up most of the island. Partly it is covered with bushes and trees, which are common for the islands in this sea, in other parts it consists of a bare sandy beach on which the sea breaks in a tremendous way in some places. "

- William Bligh : quoted from: Ida Lee: Captain Bligh's Second Voyage to the South Sea. Longmans, Green and Co., London 1920

The British explorer and naval officer Frederick William Beechey reached Tematangi with the sloop HMS Blossom on February 2, 1826, but did not go ashore. In his expedition report it says:

“[...] and then we headed for the lagoon island of Captain Bligh, which we saw the following day. As we approached, great fires were kindled in different parts of [the island]. The natives were darker than those of Cook's lagoon island, almost naked, and had their hair tied in a bun on top of their heads. They were all armed with stones, clubs and spears. Since the sea was very high, we did not land and therefore there was no further communication with them. The island is larger than it is on the Arrowsmith maps, but its position is actually very exactly the same as that determined by Bligh. "

- Frederick William Beechey

Under the guidance of the Catholic missionary Victor Vallons, large areas of coconut palms were planted on Tematangi (and other uninhabited islands in the region) in the first half of the 20th century. Work teams from neighboring atolls spent three to four months a year on Tematangi to harvest the copra . In the 1990s some families settled again. For these permanent residents, the village of Teakoro on the western Motu was built, as well as a landing pontoon, a church and an administrative building.

economy & Administration and Management

Tematangi belongs politically to the municipality of Tureia , which is administered by a subdivision ( Subdivision administrative des Tuamotu-Gambier ) of the High Commission of French Polynesia ( Haut-commissariat de la République en Polynésie française ). According to the 2012 census, Tematangi has a total of 58 inhabitants who live on the three larger motu. The infrastructure is underdeveloped. The reef islands are not connected by roads or paths, the main means of transport is the boat. There is no port or airport, and an unpaved landing area for helicopters has been created on the northern island in an emergency.

The economy is based almost exclusively on the exploitation of the coconut plantations, the fruits of which are processed into copra on site. In addition, the residents practice horticulture with tropical tubers and fruits ( yams , taro , breadfruit, sweet potato ) as well as fishing, chickens and pigs for self-sufficiency .

Tourism on a significant scale has not developed and there is no tourist infrastructure. In addition, there is no regular boat or flight connection to Tematangi.

reception

In his collection of episodes "In The South Seas", published posthumously in 1896, Robert Louis Stevenson describes the fate of the schooner Sarah Ann, who sailed from Papeete in Tahiti and was never seen again. The crew and passengers, including a toddler and the captain's wife, fell victim to Tematangi warlike cannibals who came from Anaa Island . In addition to Tahiti, the uninhabited island of Tematangi is also the setting for the novel “On the Dark River” by Charles Bernard Nordhoff and James Norman Hall .

Web links

• Image and short description (Engl.) ( Memento of 23 December 2010 at the Internet Archive )
• History
• geographical information

Individual evidence

1. ^ [1] Seamount Catalog
2. ^ Andrew Sharp: The Discovery of the Pacific Islands. Greenwood Press, Westport (CT) 1960, p. 109
3. ^ ^{A b} Frederick William Beechey: Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's Strait: To Co-Operate with the Polar Expeditions: Performed in His Majesty's Ship Blossom, Under the command of Captain FW Beechey, RN in the Years 1825, 26, 27, 28. Volume 1, Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley London
4. ↑ 2012 census