French Polynesia is divided into five island groups: theAustral Islands; theGambier Islands; theMarquesas Islands; theSociety Islands (comprising theLeeward andWindward Islands); and theTuamotus. Among its 121 islands and atolls, 75 were inhabited at the 2017 census.[5]Tahiti, which is in the Society Islands group, is the most populous island, being home to nearly 69% of the population of French Polynesia as of 2017[update].Papeete, located on Tahiti, is the capital of French Polynesia. Although not an integral part of its territory,Clipperton Island was administered from French Polynesia until 2007.
Hundreds of years after theGreat Polynesian Migration, European explorers began traveling through the region, visiting the islands of French Polynesia on several occasions. Traders and whaling ships also visited. In 1842, the French took over the islands and established a Frenchprotectorate that they calledÉtablissements français d'Océanie (EFO) (French Establishments/Settlements of Oceania).
In 1946, the EFO became anoverseas territory under the constitution of theFrench Fourth Republic, andPolynesians were granted the right to vote through citizenship. In 1957, the territory was renamed French Polynesia. In 1983, it became a member of thePacific Community, a regional development organization. Since 28 March 2003, French Polynesia has been an overseas collectivity of the French Republic under the constitutional revision of article 74, and later gained, with law 2004-192 of 27 February 2004, an administrative autonomy, two symbolic manifestations of which are the title of thePresident of French Polynesia and its additional designation as anoverseas country.[8]
Anthropologists and historians believe the Great Polynesian Migration commenced around 1500 BC asAustronesian peoples went on a journey usingcelestial navigation to find islands in the South Pacific Ocean. The first islands of French Polynesia to be settled were the Marquesas Islands in about 200 BC. ThePolynesians later ventured southwest and discovered the Society Islands around AD 300.[9]
European encounters began in 1521 when Portuguese explorerFerdinand Magellan, sailing at the service of theSpanish Crown, sightedPuka-Puka in theTuāmotu-Gambier Archipelago. In 1606 another Spanish expedition underPedro Fernandes de Queirós sailed through Polynesia sighting an inhabited island on 10 February[10] which they called Sagitaria (or Sagittaria), probably the island ofRekareka to the southeast of Tahiti.[11] In 1722, DutchmanJakob Roggeveen while on an expedition sponsored by the Dutch West India Company, charted the location of six islands in the Tuamotu Archipelago and two islands in the Society Islands, one of which wasBora Bora.
British explorerSamuel Wallis became the first European navigator to visit Tahiti in 1767. French explorerLouis Antoine de Bougainville also visited Tahiti in 1768, while British explorerJames Cook arrived in 1769,[9] andobserved the transit of Venus. He would stop in Tahiti again in 1773 during his second voyage to the Pacific, and once more in 1777 during his third and last voyage before being killed in Hawaii.
In 1772, the SpanishViceroy of Peru DonManuel de Amat ordered a number of expeditions to Tahiti under the command ofDomingo de Bonechea who was the first European to explore all of the main islands beyond Tahiti.[12] A short-lived Spanish settlement was created in 1774,[9] and for a time some maps bore the nameIsla de Amat after Viceroy Amat.[13]Christian missions began with Spanish priests who stayed in Tahiti for a year. Protestants from theLondon Missionary Society settled permanently in Polynesia in 1797.
Society Island kingdoms
KingPōmare II of Tahiti was forced to flee toMo'orea in 1803[why?]; he and his subjects were converted to Protestantism in 1812. French Catholic missionaries arrived on Tahiti in 1834; their expulsion in 1836 caused France to send a gunboat in 1838. In 1842, Tahiti andTahuata were declared aFrench protectorate, to allow Catholic missionaries to work undisturbed. The capital ofPapeetē was founded in 1843. In 1880, France annexed Tahiti, changing the status from that of a protectorate to that of acolony. The island groups were not officially united until the establishment of the French protectorate in 1889.[14]
After France declared a protectorate over Tahiti in 1842 andfought a war with Tahiti (1844–1847), the British and French signed theJarnac Convention in 1847, declaring that the kingdoms ofRaiatea,Huahine andBora Bora were to remain independent from both powers and that no single chief was to be allowed to reign over the entire archipelago. France eventually broke the agreement, and the islands were annexed and became a colony in 1888 (eight years after the Windward Islands) after many native resistances and conflicts called theLeewards War, lasting until 1897.[15][16]
In the 1880s, France claimed theTuamotu Archipelago, which formerly belonged to thePōmare Dynasty, without formally annexing it. Having declared a protectorate over Tahuata in 1842, the French regarded the entire Marquesas Islands as French. In 1885, France appointed a governor and established a general council, thus giving it the proper administration for a colony. The islands ofRimatara andRūrutu unsuccessfully lobbied for British protection in 1888, so in 1889 they were annexed by France. Postage stamps were first issued in the colony in 1892. The first official name for the colony wasÉtablissements de l'Océanie (Establishments in Oceania); in 1903 the general council was changed to an advisory council, and the colony's name was changed toÉtablissements français de l'Océanie [fr] (French Establishments in Oceania).[17]
A two-francWorld War II emergency-issue banknote (1943), printed inPapeete, and depicting the outline ofTahiti on the reverse
In 1940, the administration of French Polynesia recognised theFree French Forces, and many Polynesians served in World War II, primarily in North Africa and parts of Italy. Unknown at the time to the French and Polynesians, theKonoe Cabinet inImperial Japan on 16 September 1940 included French Polynesia among the many territories which were to becomeJapanese possessions, as part of the "Eastern Pacific Government-General" in thepost-war world.[18] However, in the course of the war in the Pacific the Japanese were not able to launch an actual invasion of the French islands.
The French frigateFloréal in November 2002, at anchor inBora Bora lagoon
In 1946, Polynesians were granted French citizenship and the islands' status was changed to an overseas territory. The islands' name was changed in 1957 toPolynésie Française (French Polynesia). In 1962, France's earlynuclear testing ground inAlgeria was no longer usable when Algeria became independent and theMoruroa atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago was selected as the new testing site. Nuclear tests were conducted underground after 1974.[19] In 1977, French Polynesia was granted partial internal autonomy; in 1984, the autonomy was extended. French Polynesia became a full overseas collectivity of France in 2003.[20]
In September 1995, France stirred up widespread protests by resuming nuclear testing atFangataufa atoll after a three-year moratorium. The last test was on 27 January 1996. On 29 January 1996, France announced that it would accede to theComprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and no longer test nuclear weapons.[21]
French Polynesia was relisted in theUnited Nations list of non-self-governing territories in 2013, making it eligible for a UN-backed independence referendum. The relisting was made after the indigenous opposition was voiced and supported by the Polynesian Leaders Group, Pacific Conference of Churches, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Non-Aligned Movement, World Council of Churches, and Melanesian Spearhead Group.[22]
Political life in French Polynesia was marked by great instability from the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s. The anti-independence right-wing president of French Polynesia,Gaston Flosse, who had been in power since 1991, had supported the resumption of theFrench nuclear weapons tests in 1995, and had obtained from his longtime friend and political allyJacques Chirac, then president of France, a status of expanded autonomy for French Polynesia in 2004, failed to secure an absolute majority in the2004 French Polynesian legislative election, resulting in deadlock at theAssembly of French Polynesia. Flosse's longtime opponent, the pro-independence leaderOscar Temaru, whose pro-independence coalition had won one less seat than Flosse's party in the Assembly, was nonetheless elected president of French Polynesia by the Assembly in June 2004 thanks to the votes of two non-aligned Assembly members. This resulted in several years of political instability, as neither the pro- nor the anti-independence camps were assured of a majority, depending on the votes of smaller non-aligned parties representing the interests of the distant islands of French Polynesia (as opposed to Tahiti). Temaru was toppled from the presidency of French Polynesia in October 2004, succeeded by Flosse who was toppled in March 2005, succeeded by Temaru again who was toppled in December 2006, succeeded byGaston Tong Sang, a close ally of Flosse.
On 14 September 2007, the pro-independence leader Oscar Temaru was elected president of French Polynesia for the third time in three years (with 27 of 44 votes cast in the Assembly).[23] He replaced anti-independence leaderGaston Tong Sang, who on 31 August had lost ano-confidence vote in the Assembly, after the longtime former president of French Polynesia,Gaston Flosse, hitherto opposed to independence, sided with his long enemy Oscar Temaru to topple the Tong Sang government. Temaru, however, had no stable majority in the Assembly, and new elections were held in February 2008 in an attempt to solve the political crisis.
Tong Sang's political party,Tahoera'a Huiraatira, won the territorial elections, but that did not solve the political crisis: the two minority parties of Temaru and Flosse, who together had one more member in the Assembly than did Tahoera'a Huiraatira, allied to prevent Tong Sang from becoming president of French Polynesia again. Flosse was then elected president of French Polynesia by the territorial assembly on 23 February 2008 with the support of the pro-independence party led by Temaru, while Temaru was elected speaker of the territorial assembly with the support of the anti-independence party led by Flosse. Both formed a coalition cabinet. Many observers doubted that the alliance between anti-independence Flosse and pro-independence Termaru could last very long.[24]
At theFrench municipal elections held in March 2008, several prominent mayors who were members of the Flosse-Temaru coalition lost their offices in key municipalities of French Polynesia, which was interpreted as a disapproval of the way Tong Sang (whose party French Polynesian voters had placed first in the territorial elections the month before), had been prevented from becoming president of French Polynesia by the last minute alliance between Flosse and Temaru. Only a month later, on 15 April 2008, the coalition government was toppled—by aconstructive vote of no confidence in the territorial assembly—when two members of the Flosse-Temaru coalition left the coalition and sided with Tong Sang's party. Tong Sang's majority in the territorial assembly was very narrow, and he was toppled in February 2009, succeeded by as president this time around by Temaru (who was still supported by Flosse).
Temaru's return to power was brief as he fell out with Flosse and was toppled in November 2009, succeeded by his predecessor, Tong Sang. Tong Sang remained in power for a year and a half before being toppled in a vote of no confidence in April 2011, and succeeded again by Temaru. Temaru's fifth stint as president of French Polynesia lasted two years, during which time he campaigned for the re-inscription of French Polynesia on theUnited Nations list of non-self-governing territories. Temaru lost the2013 French Polynesian legislative election by a wide margin, only two weeks before theUnited Nations re-registered French Polynesia on its list of non-self governing territories. This was interpreted by political analysts as a rejection by French Polynesian voters of Temaru's push for independence as well as the consequence of the socioeconomic crisis affecting French Polynesia after years of political instability and corruption scandals.
Flosse, whose anti-independence party was the big winner of the 2013 election, succeeded Temaru as president of French Polynesia in May 2013, but he was removed from office in September 2014 due to a corruption conviction by France's highest court. Flosse was replaced as president of French Polynesia by his second-in-command in the anti-independence camp,Édouard Fritch, who was also Flosse's former son-in-law (divorced from Flosse's daughter). Fritch fell out with Flosse in 2015 as both leaders were vying for control of the anti-independence camp, and Fritch was excluded from Flosse's party in September 2015, before founding his own anti-independence party,Tapura Huiraatira, in February 2016. His new party managed to keep a majority in the Assembly, and Fritch remained as president.
Political stability returned to French Polynesia following the split of the anti-independence camp in 2015-16. Tapura Huiraatira won 70% of the seats in the Assembly of French Polynesia at the2018 French Polynesian legislative election—defeating both Temaru's pro-independence party and Flosse's anti-independence party—and Édouard Fritch was re-elected president of French Polynesia by the Assembly in May 2018. By 2022, Édouard Fritch was the longest-serving president of French Polynesia since his former father-in-law Flosse in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Between 1946 and 2003, French Polynesia had the status of an overseas territory (territoire d'outre-mer, orTOM). In 2003, it became an overseas collectivity (collectivité d'outre-mer, or COM). Its statutory law of 27 February 2004 gives it the particular designation ofoverseas country inside the Republic (pays d'outre-mer au sein de la République, or POM), but without legal modification of its status.[25]
Despite a local assembly and government, French Polynesia is not in afree association with France, like theCook Islands withNew Zealand. As a French overseas collectivity, the local government has no direct authority over justice, university education, or defense. Services in these areas are directly provided and administered by the Government of France, including theNational Gendarmerie (which also polices rural and border areas in metropolitan France), andFrench military forces. The local or collectivity government retains control over primary and secondary education, health, town planning, and the environment.[26] The highest representative of the State in the territory is theHigh Commissioner of the Republic in French Polynesia (French:Haut commissaire de la République en Polynésie française).
French Polynesia also sends threedeputies to theFrench National Assembly in three constituencies,the 1st representing Papeete and its north-eastern suburbs, plus thecommune (municipality) ofMo'orea-Mai'ao, theTuāmotu-Gambier administrative division, and the Marquesas Islands administrative division,the 2nd representing much of Tahiti outside Papeete and the Austral Islands administrative subdivision, andthe 3rd representing theLeeward Islandsadministrative subdivision and the south-western suburbs of Papeete. French Polynesia also sends two senators to theFrench Senate.
The defence of the collectivity is the responsibility of theFrench Armed Forces. Some 900 military personnel are deployed in the territory — incorporating the Pacific-Polynesian Marine Infantry Regiment (RIMaP-P)[27][28] — along with modest air transport and surveillance assets.[29] The latter included threeFalcon 200 Gardian maritime surveillance aircraft fromFrench Naval Aviation, which as of 2025/26 are being replaced, on an interim basis, by the more advancedFalcon 50 aircraft. These aircraft will in turn be replaced by the newFalcon 2000 Albatros starting in about 2030.[30][31][32][33][34] The former is composed of twoCN-235 tactical transport aircraft drawn from the Air Force's ET 82 "Maine" transport squadron.[28]
As of mid-2024, three principalFrench Navy vessels are based in the territory, including the surveillance frigatePrairial, the patrol and support shipBougainville, andTeriieroo to Teriierooiterai, a vessel of the newFélix Éboué class of patrol vessels.[35] In 2026 a second vessel of theFélix Éboué class,Philip Bernardino, is to be deployed in Tahiti to further reinforce France's maritime surveillance capabilities in the region.[36] As of 2021, two smaller port and coastal tugs (RPCs),Maroa andManini, were also operational in the territory.[37][38] As of 2025, Flottilla 35F ofFrench Naval Aviation deploys a detachment of twoAS 365N Dauphin helicopters in Tahiti.[39] The helicopters carry out a variety of roles in the territory, and may be embarked on the frigatePrairial as needed.[40]
TheNational Gendarmerie deploys some 500 active personnel and civilians, plus around 150 reservists, in French Polynesia.[41] The patrol boatJasmin of theMaritime Gendarmerie is also based in the territory and is to be replaced by a new PCG-NG patrol boat around 2025–2026.[42][43]
The islands of French Polynesia make up a total land area of 3,521 square kilometres (1,359 sq mi),[2] scattered over more than 2,000 km (1,200 miles) of ocean. There are 121 islands in French Polynesia and many more islets ormotus aroundatolls.[5] The highest point isMount Orohena onTahiti.
It is made up of five archipelagos. The largest and most populated island is Tahiti, in the Society Islands.
Administratively subdivided into the Windward Islands subdivision (4 high islands and 1 atoll) and the Leeward Islands subdivision (5 high islands and 4 atolls)
The 5 administrative subdivisions and 48communes of French Polynesia.
French Polynesia is divided in five administrative subdivisions (subdivisions administratives):
Marquesas Islands (French:les îles Marquises or officiallyla subdivision administrative des îles Marquises)
Leeward Islands (French:les îles Sous-le-Vent or officiallyla subdivision administrative des îles Sous-le-Vent) (the twosubdivisions administratives Windward Islands and Leeward Islands are part of the Society Islands)
Windward Islands (French:les îles du Vent or officiallyla subdivision administrative des îles du Vent) (the twosubdivisions administratives Windward Islands and Leeward Islands are part of the Society Islands)
Tuāmotu-Gambier (French:les Îles Tuamotu-Gambier or officiallyla subdivision administrative des îles Tuamotu-Gambier) (the Tuamotus and the Gambier Islands)
Austral Islands (French:les îles Australes or officiallyla subdivision administrative des îles Australes) (including theBass Islands)
The five administrative subdivisions are not local councils; they are solelydeconcentrated subdivisions of the French central State. At the head of each administrative subdivision is anadministrateur d'État ('State administrator'), generally simply known asadministrateur, also sometimes calledchef de la subdivision administrative ('head of the administrative subdivision'). Theadministrateur is a civil servant under the authority of the High Commissioner of the French Republic in French Polynesia inPapeete.
Four administrative subdivisions (Marquesas Islands, Leeward Islands, Tuamotu-Gambier, and Austral Islands) each also form a deconcentrated subdivision of the government of French Polynesia. These are calledcirconscriptions ('districts'). The head of acirconscription is thetavana hau, known asadministrateur territorial in French ('territorial administrator'), but theTahitian titletavana hau is most often used. Thepresident of French Polynesia's government appoints thetavana hau, who directly reports to the president. The Windward Islands, due to their proximity to Papeete, do not form a deconcentrated subdivision of the government of French Polynesia.
The 5 administrative subdivisions are themselves divided in 48communes. Like all other communes in the French Republic, these are municipalities in which local residents with either a French or anotherEU citizenship elect a municipal council and a mayor in charge of managing local affairs within the commune. Municipal elections occur every six years on the same date as in the rest of the French Republic (the last municipal electionstook place in 2020).
30 communes are further subdivided in 98associated communes which have each a delegate mayor and a registry office. These 30 communes were subdivided in associated communes either because they have a large land territory (particularly in the larger islands such asTahiti orNuku Hiva) or because they are made up ofatolls distant from each other (particularly in the Tuamotu archipelago), which led to the creation of associated communes for each inhabited atoll.
17 communes (out of French Polynesia's 48 communes) have banded together in three separatecommunities of communes. These indirectly electedintercommunal councils are still relatively new in French Polynesia, and unlike inmetropolitan France and itsoverseas regions it is not mandatory for the communes in French Polynesia to join an intercommunal council. The three intercommunal councils in existence as of 2022, all formed on a voluntary basis, were:
community of communes of the Marquesas Islands (French:communauté de communes des îles Marquises, orCODIM), formed in 2010 by all the communes in the administrative subdivision of the Marquesas Islands
community of communes Havaʻi (French:communauté de communes Havaʻi, orCCH), formed in 2012 by all the communes in the administrative subdivision of the Leeward Islands, with the exception ofBora-Bora which preferred to remain separate for financial reasons
These communities of communes, as elsewhere in the French Republic, are not full-fledgedterritorial collectivities, but only federations of communes. From a legal standpoint, the only territorial collectivities in French Polynesia are the overseas collectivity of French Polynesia and the 48 communes.
Total population was 278,786 according to the August 18, 2022 census,[3] 68.7% of whom lived on the island ofTahiti alone. The urban area of Papeete, the capital city, has 136,771 inhabitants (2017 census).[47]
At the 2017 census, 89.0% of people living in French Polynesia had been born there (up from 87.3% in 2007); 8.1% had been born inMetropolitan France (down from 9.3% in 2007); 1.2% were born elsewhere inoverseas France (down from 1.4% in 2007); and 1.7% were from foreign countries (down from 2.0% in 2007).[48] The population of natives of Metropolitan France living in French Polynesia has declined in relative terms since the 1980s, but in absolute terms their population peaked at the 2007 census, when 24,265 lived in French Polynesia (not counting their children born there).[49] With the local economic crisis, their population declined to 22,278 at the 2012 census,[49] and 22,387 at the 2017 census.[48]
Foreign countries with French citizenship at birth1
Immigrants2
2017
89.0%
8.1%
1.2%
0.9%
0.8%
2012
88.7%
8.3%
1.3%
0.9%
0.8%
2007
87.3%
9.3%
1.4%
1.1%
0.9%
2002
87.2%
9.5%
1.4%
1.2%
0.8%
1996
86.9%
9.3%
1.5%
1.3%
0.9%
1988
86.7%
9.2%
1.5%
1.5%
1.0%
1983
86.1%
10.1%
1.0%
1.5%
1.3%
Notes to table
1 Persons born abroad of French parents, such asPieds-Noirs and children of Frenchexpatriates.
2 An immigrant is by French definition a person born in a foreign country and who had no French citizenship at birth. An immigrant may have acquired French citizenship since moving to France, but is still listed as an immigrant in French statistics. On the other hand, persons born in France with foreign citizenship (the children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants.Source: ISPF[49][48]
At the 1988 census, the last census which asked questions regarding ethnicity, 66.5% of people were ethnically unmixedPolynesians, 7.1% were ethnically Polynesians with light European or East Asian mixing, 11.9% wereEuropeans (mostlyFrench), 9.3% were people of mixed European and Polynesian descent, the so-called Demis (literally meaning "Half"), and 4.7% wereEast Asians (mainlyChinese).[1]
Chinese, Demis, and the white populace are essentially concentrated on the island of Tahiti, particularly in the urban area of Papeete, where their share of the population is thus much greater than in French Polynesia overall.[1] Despite a long history of ethnic mixing, ethnic tensions have been growing in recent years, with politicians using axenophobic discourse and fanning the flame of nationalism.[50][51]
All the indigenous languages of French Polynesia arePolynesian. French Polynesia has been linguistically diverse since ancient times, with each community having its own local speech variety. These dialects can be grouped into seven languages on the basis ofmutual intelligibility:Tahitian,Tuamotuan,Rapa,Austral,North Marquesan,South Marquesan, andMangarevan. Some of these, especially Tuamotuan, are reallydialect continua formed by a patchwork of different dialects. The distinction between languages and dialects is notoriously difficult to establish, and so some authors may view two varieties as dialects of the same language, while others may view them as distinct languages. In this way, North and South Marquesan are often grouped together as a single Marquesan language, and Rapa is often viewed as part of Austral subfamily. At the same time, Ra'ivavae is often viewed as distinct from them.[56]
French is the sole official language of French Polynesia.[57] Anorganic law of 12 April 1996 states that "French is the official language, Tahitian and other Polynesian languages can be used." At the 2017 census, among the population whose age was 15 and older, 73.9% of people reported that the language they spoke the most at home was French (up from 68.6% at the 2007 census), 20.2% reported that the language they spoke the most at home wasTahitian (down from 24.3% at the 2007 census), 2.6% reportedMarquesan and 0.2% the relatedMangareva language (same percentages for both at the 2007 census), 1.2% reported any of theAustral languages (down from 1.3% at the 2007 census), 1.0% reportedTuamotuan (down from 1.5% at the 2007 census), 0.6% reported aChinese dialect (41% of which wasHakka) (down from 1.0% at the 2007 census), and 0.4% another language (more than half of which wasEnglish) (down from 0.5% at the 2007 census).[58]
At the same census, 95.2% of people whose age was 15 or older reported that they could speak, read and write French (up from 94.7% at the 2007 census), whereas only 1.3% reported that they had no knowledge of French (down from 2.0% at the 2007 census).[58] 86.5% of people whose age was 15 or older reported that they had some form of knowledge of at least one Polynesian language (up from 86.4% at the 2007 census but down from 87.8% at the 2012 census), whereas 13.5% reported that they had no knowledge of any of the Polynesian languages (down from 13.6% at the 2007 census but up from 12.2% at the 2012 census).[58]
French Polynesia appeared in theworld music scene in 1992, recorded by French musicologistPascal Nabet-Meyer with the release ofThe Tahitian Choir's recordings of unaccompanied vocal Christian music calledhimene tārava.[59] This form of singing is common in French Polynesia and the Cook Islands, and is notable for a unique drop in pitch at the end of the phrases, a characteristic formed by several different voices, accompanied by a steady grunting of staccato,nonlexical syllables.[60]
Tahitian dance as a movement art evolved alongside Tahitian oral transmission of cultural knowledge.[61] In fact, dance movement or gesture has significance that supported the transmission of cultural knowledge.[62] Dance styles include'Aparima and'upa'upa.
However, after theLondon Missionary Society brought their religion to the islands, they pressured KingPōmare II (whom they had converted from traditional beliefs to theirReformed tradition) to introduce a new legal code.[63] This code, now known as the Pōmare Code, came into effect in 1819[64] and banned numerous traditional practices including dancing, chants, floral costumes, tattooing and more.[65]
Christianity is the main religion of the islands. A majority of 54% belongs to variousProtestant churches, especially theMaohi Protestant Church, which is the largest and accounts for more than 50% of the population.[66] It traces its origins toPōmare II, the king of Tahiti, who converted from traditional beliefs to the Reformed tradition brought to the islands by the London Missionary Society.
Data from 1991 revealed that Catholics were in the majority in theTuamotu Islands,[69]Gambier Islands[69] and theMarquesas Islands,[69] while Protestants formed the majority in theAustral Islands[69] and several of theSociety Islands such as Tahiti.[69] This diversity is due to the fact that Protestant missionaries (from England and the United States) first came to one group of islands, and after French colonisation the Catholic Church spread to several more scattered islands, but also to the main island of Tahiti.[69]
French Polynesia produces a significant array of fruits and vegetables as natural local produce (especially coconut), which feature in many of the dishes of the islands, as does fresh seafood.Foods likefaraoa 'ipo,poisson cru andrēti'a are commonly eaten. The islands of Tahiti and the Marquesas indulge in a unique food made by preservingbreadfruit, known asma, which either can be baked further in theearth oven, or consumed directly mixed with fresh breadfruit aspopoi mei (as is in the Marquesas).[74]
The Polynesian traditional sportva'a is practiced in all the islands.[75] French Polynesia hosts theHawaiki nui va'a [fr;it;no] an international race between Tahiti, Huahine and Bora Bora.
There are many spots to practice kitesurfing in French Polynesia, with Tahiti, Moorea, Bora-Bora, Maupiti and Raivavae being among the most iconic.[79]
French Polynesia is internationally known for diving. Each archipelago offers opportunities for divers.Rangiroa andFakarava in theTuamotu islands are the most famous spots in the area.[80]
Television channels with local programming includePolynésie la 1ère (established in 1965) andTahiti Nui Television (established in 2000). Channels from metropolitan France are also available.
Tourism is an important source of income for French Polynesia.
The legal tender of French Polynesia is theCFP franc which has a fixed exchange rate with theeuro. The nominalgross domestic product (GDP) of French Polynesia in 2019 was 6.02 billionU.S. dollars at market exchange rates, the seventh-largest economy in Oceania afterAustralia,New Zealand,Hawaii,Papua New Guinea,New Caledonia, andGuam.[4] The GDP per capita was US$21,673 in 2019 (at market exchange rates, not atPPP), lower than in Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Guam, New Caledonia, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Cook Islands, but higher than in all other independent insular states and dependent territories ofOceania.[4]
French Polynesia was severely affected by the2008 financial crisis and subsequentGreat Recession, and experienced as a result 4 years ofrecession from 2009 to 2012. French Polynesia renewed with economic growth in 2013, and experienced strong economic growth in the 2nd half of the 2010s, with an averagereal GDP growth rate of +2.8% per year from 2016 to 2019, before being affected by theCOVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which has led to another recession.[88]
French Polynesia has a moderately developed economy, which is dependent on imported goods, tourism, and the financial assistance of mainland France. Tourist facilities are well developed and are available on the major islands. Main agricultural productions arecoconuts (copra), vegetables and fruits. French Polynesia exportsnoni juice, a high qualityvanilla, and the famousblack Tahitian pearls[89] which accounted for 55% of exports (in value) in 2008.[90]
There are 53 airports in French Polynesia; 46 are paved.[20]Fa'a'ā International Airport is the only international airport in French Polynesia. Each island has its own airport that serves flights to other islands.Air Tahiti is the main airline that flies around the islands.
In 2017, Alcatel Submarine Networks, a unit ofNokia, launched a project to connect many of the islands in French Polynesia with underwater fiber optic cable. The project, called NATITUA, is intended to improve French Polynesian broadband connectivity by linking Tahiti to 10 islands in the Tuamotu and Marquesas archipelagos.[92] In August 2018, a celebration was held to commemorate the arrival of a submarine cable fromPapeete to the atoll of Hao, extending the network by about 1000 kilometres.[93]
^The Japanese claim to the French Pacific islands, along with many other vast territories, appears in 16 September 1940 "Sphere of survival for the Establishment of a New Order in Greater East Asia by Imperial Japan", published in 1955 by Japan's Foreign Ministry as part of the two-volume "Chronology and major documents of Diplomacy of Japan 1840–1945" – here quoted from "Interview with Tetsuzo Fuwa: Japan's War: History of Expansionism", Japan Press Service, July 2007
^ab"Forces armées de Polynésie française" [Armed Forces of French Polynesia] (in French). Ministère des Armées. 14 February 2022.Archived from the original on 14 November 2022. Retrieved8 December 2022.
^"Le Jasmin sera remplacé en 2024".Direction Polynésienne des Affaires Maritimes (in French). 12 June 2019.Archived from the original on 4 March 2023. Retrieved4 March 2023.
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^Hayward, Philip (2006).Bounty Chords: Music, Dance and Cultural Heritage on Norfolk and Pitcairn Islands. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 24–35.ISBN9780861966783.
^McLean, Mervyn (1999).Weavers of Song: Polynesian Music and Dance. Auckland University Press. pp. 403–435.ISBN9781869402129.
^Gunson, N. (1969). Pomare II of Tahiti and Polynesian imperialism. The Journal of Pacific History, 4(1), 65–82
^Gille, Bernard (2009).Histoire des institutions de l'Océanie française: Polynésie, Nouvelle-Calédonie, Wallis et Futuna, L'Harmattan (in French). Harmattan. pp. 403–435.ISBN978-2-296-09234-1.
Pollock, Nancy J.; Crocombe, R. G., eds. (1988).French Polynesia: a book of selected readings (in English and French). Suva, Fiji: Institute of Pacific Studies of the University of the South Pacific.ISBN978-982-02-0032-6.
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