GEOGRAPHY

French Polynesia consists of five great archipelagos, the Society, Austral, Tuamotu, Gambier, and Marquesas islands. The Society Islands are subdivided into the Windwards or Iles du Vent (Tahiti, Moorea, Maiao, Tetiaroa, and Mehafa), and the Leewards or Iles Sous le Vent (Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa, Bora Bora, Maupiti).

Together the 35 islands and 83 atolls of French Polynesia total only 3,543 square km in land area, yet they're scattered over 5,030,000 square km of the southeastern Pacific, from the Cook Is. in the west to Pitcairn in the east.

There's a wonderful geological diversity to these islands midway between Australia and South America. From the dramatic, jagged volcanic outlines of the Society and Marquesas islands to the 400-meter-high hills of the Australs and Gambiers and the low coral atolls of the Tuamotus.

All of the Marquesas are volcanic islands, while the Tuamotus are all coral islands or atolls. The Societies and Gambiers include both volcanic and coral types.

Tahiti, just over 4,000 km from both Auckland and Honolulu, is not only the best known and most populous of the islands, but also the largest (1,045 square km) and highest (2,241 meters). Bora Bora and Maupiti are noted for their combination of high volcanic peaks within low coral rings. Rangiroa is one of the world's largest coral atolls while Makatea is an uplifted atoll. In the Marquesas, precipitous and sharply crenelated mountains rise hundreds of meters, with craggy peaks, razor-back ridges, plummeting waterfalls, deep fertile valleys, and dark broken coastlines pounded by surf. Compare them to the pencil-thin strips of yellow reefs, green vegetation, and white beaches enclosing the transparent Tuamotu lagoons.

In all, French Polynesia offers some of the most varied and spectacular scenery of the entire Pacific islands region.

Flora and Fauna

Prior to the arrival of the original Polynesian settlers in the 7th century, the variety of vegetation was very meager and limited to the seeds and spores borne by wind, sea and birds that happened to find their way to the islands. In their large ocean-crossing catamarans the Polynesians brought taro, yam, coconuts, bananas and breadfruit. To the bafflement of scientists they also cultivated the South American sweet potato - a plant that does not exist in Asia.

Later, the missionaries introduced corn, cotton, sugar cane, citrus fruits, tamarinds, pineapples, guavas, figs, coffee and other vegetables. Tahiti also owes quite a bit to Edouard Raoul, a pharmacist-botanist who in 1887 brought from France a cargo of 1500 varieties of plants to the islands, and experimented with the cultivation of hundreds of types of fruit trees.

Other tree species included kauri (from New Zealand), red cedar, eucalyptus, rubber, gum and jack. A decade after his arrival Raoul's gardens were donating about 150 species of plants to farmers to improve their stock.

In 1919 Harrison Smith, a US university professor turned botanist, purchased 340 acres in Papaeri and settled down to cultivate hundreds of plant varieties he had imported from tropical regions throughout the world. Like Raoul, he helped local farmers by giving them seeds and cuttings to better their crops. Tahitians take pride in their gardens, which are richly ornamented with flowers and shrubs, including frangipani and a variety of Camellia.

Fruits are usually abundant on every home site; during the harvest season they provide an important staple. They include a species of huge avocado, mangoes, papayas, custard apples, bananas, pamplemousse (a kind of grapefruit), oranges and pineapples.

Like the flora, most of the fauna found in Tahiti was introduced by humans. Pigs, dogs, chickens, lizards and even rats were brought by the Polynesians. Later, Captain Cook imported cattle and cats. The only "wild' animals are pigs, the descendants of those that escaped domestication and now live in the bush.

Marine Life

Polynesia's richest store of life is found among the fish of the lagoons and open sea, including angelfish, bonito, butterflyfish, eels, groupers, harpfish, jacks, mahimahi, mullets, parrotfish, sharks, soldierfish, stingrays, surgeonfish, swordfish, trumpetfish, tuna, and countless more.

It's believed that most Pacific marine organisms evolved in the triangular area bounded by New Guinea, the Philippines, and the Malay Peninsula. This 'Cradle of Indo-Pacific Marine life" includes a wide variety of habitats and has remained stable through several geological ages. From this cradle the rest of the Pacific was colonized.

"Text from Moon Handbooks: Tahiti
http://www.southpacific.org/tahiti.html by David Stanley (used with permission)."