The French Polynesia hotel and activities guide offers stay over guests and cruise ship visitors information and discount reservations for hotels, villa rentals, car rentals, activities and shore excursions in French Polynesia.
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French Polynesia is a French overseas collectivity (Tahitian: Porinetia Farani, French: Polynésie française) in the South Pacific Ocean. Geographically and culturally, it is part of Polynesia and consists of 118 islands, 67 of which are inhabited. The islands have a total land area of ​​4,167 km², spread over 2,500,000 km² of ocean. The population is 295,121 (2020). The capital is Papeete, located in Tahiti.
From 1946 to 2003, French Polynesia was an overseas territory (territoire d'outre-mer, TOM). In 2003 and 2004 it was an overseas collective for a short time. Since 2004 it has been an overseas "country", which gives it a relatively large say. However, the army, police and higher education are under the control of the government in Paris.
French Polynesia has its own parliament, the Assemblée de la Polynésie française. The president is elected by this Assembly. The most important advisory body is the CESC, which is comparable to the Social and Economic Council in the Netherlands. There is also the High Commissioner of the Republic who represents France.
The working language is French and is used in all official meetings and documents. Tahitian plays an important role in daily life and there are many local languages.
Geography
The island of Bora Bora. On the right you can see the extinct and partly subsided volcano and on the left the string of surrounding islands with a holiday resort on top.
French Polynesia consists of five archipelagos with a total of 118 islands, 67 of which are inhabited. Most atolls consist of one or more extinct volcanoes. These volcanoes formed over millions of years as the Pacific Plate moved northwest over hotspots such as the Society Hotspot, the Marquesas Hotspot, and the Macdonald Hotspot (off the Austral Islands).
Every time the tectonic plate had moved further, the volcano extinguished and a new volcano was formed on the east side. Once the volcano was extinguished, a slow process began in which the volcano sank back down while the surrounding coral reef continued to grow up to just below the water's surface. Over time, a surrounding coral reef was created with a deep lagoon within it from which the old volcano rises. Islands of washed-up coral sand formed on the reef.
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