French Polynesia

Map of French Polynesia

Country	Overseas Lands of French Polynesia
Capital	Papeete (located on Tahiti)
Independence	none (overseas lands of France)
National Holiday	Fete de la Federation, 14 July (1789); note - the local holiday is Internal Autonomy Day, 29 June (1880)
Population	274,512 (July 2012 est.)
Sex ratio	1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.95 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2011 est.)
Nationality	French Polynesian(s)
Religions	Protestant 54%, Roman Catholic 30%, other 10%, no religion 6%
Languages	French (official) 61.1%, Polynesian (official) 31.4%, Asian languages 1.2%, other 0.3%, unspecified 6% (2002 census)
Literacy	Age 14 and over can read and write Total population: 98% Male: 98% Female: 98% (1977 est.)
Location	Oceania, five archipelagoes (Archipel Des Tuamotu, Iles Gambier, Iles Marquises, Iles Tubuai, Society Islands) in the South Pacific Ocean about half way between South America and Australia
Geographic coordinates	15 00 S, 140 00 W
Map references	Oceania
Area	Total: 4,167 sq km (118 islands and atolls) Land: 3,827 sq km Water: 340 sq km
Area - comparative	Slightly less than one-third the size of Connecticut
Land boundaries	0 km
Coastline	2,525 km
Maritime claims	Territorial sea: 12 nm Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate	Tropical, but moderate
Terrain	Mixture of rugged high islands and low islands with reefs
Elevation extremes	Lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m Highest point: Mont Orohena 2,241 m
Natural resources	Timber, fish, cobalt, hydropower
Exports – commodities	Cultured pearls, Coconut Products, Mother-of-pearl, Vanilla, Shark Meat
Imports - commodities	Fuels, Foodstuffs, Machinery and Equipment
Land use	arable land: 0.75% permanent crops: 5.5% other: 93.75% (2005)
Irrigated land	10 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards	Occasional cyclonic storms in January
Geography - note	includes five archipelagoes (four volcanic, one coral); Makatea in French Polynesia is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean - the others are Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and Nauru