Location: Oceania, archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from South America to Australia
Geographic coordinates: 15 00 S, 140 00 W
Map references: Oceania
Area:
total:
4,167 sq km (118 islands and atolls)
land:
3,660 sq km
water:
507 sq km
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 2,525 km
Maritime claims:
exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
territorial sea:
12 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
Land use:
arable land:
1%
permanent crops:
6%
permanent pastures:
5%
forests and woodland:
31%
other:
57% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: occasional cyclonic storms in January
Environment - current issues: NA
Geography - note: includes five archipelagoes; 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
- See also : French Polynesia
