Independence Year :
Population : 260000
Life Expectancy : 74.8
Capital : 3016
GNP : 818.00
GNP Old : 781.00
Local Name : Polynésie française
Government Form : Nonmetropolitan Territory of France
Location : Oceania, archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, south of Hawaii and east of Australia.
Terrain : Volcanic rugged high islands and low islands with coral reefs
Climate : Tropical; dry season (May to October), rainy season (November to April).
Ethnic Group : Polynesian 78%, Chinese 12%, local French 6%, metropolitan French 4%
Religions : Protestant 54%, Roman Catholic 30%, other 10%, no religion 6%
Official Website :
www.presidence.pf
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General Information - French Polynesia
Background
French Polynesia a collection of 118 islands covers a vast area of the southeastern Pacific Ocean, just about the size of Europe. Divided among five archipelagoes: the volcanic Society Islands, also called the islands under the wind (in the west) and the wind islands (in the east), with the well known island of Tahiti, the Tuamotu Archipelago, the Gambier Islands, the Marquesas Islands, and the coral Tubuai Islands (Austral Islands).
In the time of 1000 B.C. Southeast Asian immmigrants arrived in the Samoan islands and from there they settled the rest of Polynesia.
First sparsely contacts with Europeans began in the early 1700s, intensified with the arrival of English missionaries and traders in the 1830s.
After a few decades of Franco-British competitions, France establishes its protectorate in 1842.
Despite of modern influences the Polynesians could preserve the essential elements of their culture and in particular their language.
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