Tureia

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Tureia
NASA image of Tureia
NASA image of Tureia
Waters Pacific Ocean
archipelago Tuamotu Archipelago
Geographical location 20 ° 50 ′  S , 138 ° 32 ′  W Coordinates: 20 ° 50 ′  S , 138 ° 32 ′  W
Tureia (French Polynesia)
Tureia
Number of islands -
Main island Tekaruga
Land area 8.3 km²
Lagoon area 47 km²
Residents 311 (2007)
Map of Tureia
Map of Tureia
Template: Infobox Atoll / Maintenance / HoeheFehlt

Tureia (also called Papahena or Papakena , old name: Carysfort Island ) is an atoll in the southeastern Tuamotu Archipelago in the Pacific Ocean . It belongs to French Polynesia and is the most populous atoll in the municipality of the same name .

Tureia is located about 1,100 km southeast of Tahiti and about 115 km north of the Mururoa atoll, which has become known through nuclear weapon tests . With an extension of about 13 × 7 km, it is a comparatively small atoll. The area of ​​the lagoon is about 47 km², the land area 8.3 km². The largest island in the atoll is the elongated Motu Tekaruga , which surrounds the lagoon in a semicircle and is also home to Tureia Airport ( IATA code : ZTA, ICAO code : NTGY). The atoll Tureia has 311 inhabitants (as of 2007), who live mainly in the main town of Fakamaru .

Tureia was discovered for Europe in March 1791 by the British captain and later admiral (rear admiral) Edward Edwards in search of the mutineers of the Bounty . He named the atoll Carysfort after John Proby, 1st Baron Carysfort (1720–1772), a British politician and Lord of the Admiralty. From 1966 to 1996 there was a station of the French Center d'Expérimentation du Pacifique on Tureia , to observe and monitor the nuclear weapons tests on the atolls Mururoa and Fangataufa .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Institut Statistique de Polynésie Française (ISPF) - Recensement de la population 2007 ( Memento of February 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF, French)