15°00′S140°00′W / 15.000°S 140.000°W /-15.000; -140.000
French Polynesia is located inOceania. It is a group of sixarchipelagos in the SouthPacific Ocean, about halfway betweenSouth America andAustralia. Its area is about 4,167 km2 (around 130 islands),[1] of which 3,827 km2 is land and 340 km2 is (inland) water. It has a coastline of 2,525 km but no land borders with other countries.
There are 118 islands in French Polynesia (and many more islets ormotus aroundatolls). Four of the islands are volcanic and one island is coral.Makatea in French Polynesia is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean – the others areBanaba (Ocean Island) inKiribati andNauru. The terrain consists of a mixture of rugged high islands and low islands with reefs.
It is made up of six archipelagos. The largest and most populated island is Tahiti, in the Society Islands.
The archipelagos are:
Aside from Tahiti, some other important atolls, islands, and island groups in French Polynesia are:Ahē,Bora Bora,Hiva 'Oa,Huahine,Mai'ao,Maupiti,Meheti'a,Mo'orea,Nuku Hiva,Raiatea,Taha'a,Tetiaroa,Tupua'i, andTūpai. The country's highest point isMont Orohena onTahiti at 2,241 meters high.[2]
The country has a tropical, but moderate climate.
| Climate data forPapeete (Köppen Am/Af) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 36.0 (96.8) | 34.3 (93.7) | 35.3 (95.5) | 35.0 (95.0) | 34.5 (94.1) | 33.8 (92.8) | 33.0 (91.4) | 33.9 (93.0) | 33.9 (93.0) | 33.9 (93.0) | 34.0 (93.2) | 34.3 (93.7) | 36.0 (96.8) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 31.2 (88.2) | 31.4 (88.5) | 31.9 (89.4) | 31.8 (89.2) | 31.1 (88.0) | 30.3 (86.5) | 30.0 (86.0) | 30.0 (86.0) | 30.3 (86.5) | 30.5 (86.9) | 30.6 (87.1) | 30.4 (86.7) | 30.8 (87.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 27.1 (80.8) | 27.2 (81.0) | 27.6 (81.7) | 27.6 (81.7) | 26.8 (80.2) | 25.9 (78.6) | 25.6 (78.1) | 25.5 (77.9) | 25.9 (78.6) | 26.3 (79.3) | 26.6 (79.9) | 26.6 (79.9) | 26.6 (79.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 23.0 (73.4) | 23.1 (73.6) | 23.4 (74.1) | 23.3 (73.9) | 22.6 (72.7) | 21.6 (70.9) | 21.2 (70.2) | 21.1 (70.0) | 21.6 (70.9) | 22.1 (71.8) | 22.6 (72.7) | 22.9 (73.2) | 22.4 (72.3) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 19.2 (66.6) | 19.2 (66.6) | 20.4 (68.7) | 20.1 (68.2) | 19.5 (67.1) | 16.9 (62.4) | 16.0 (60.8) | 17.0 (62.6) | 17.0 (62.6) | 16.0 (60.8) | 19.0 (66.2) | 19.4 (66.9) | 16.0 (60.8) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 317.5 (12.50) | 277.7 (10.93) | 240.2 (9.46) | 143.1 (5.63) | 149.5 (5.89) | 80.8 (3.18) | 62.7 (2.47) | 56.4 (2.22) | 64.3 (2.53) | 120.9 (4.76) | 155.2 (6.11) | 396.8 (15.62) | 2,065.1 (81.30) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 14.6 | 13.4 | 11.3 | 9.2 | 8.5 | 6.0 | 5.7 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 7.8 | 9.9 | 15.3 | 112.1 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 215.5 | 199.2 | 226.0 | 230.3 | 228.6 | 220.0 | 235.2 | 251.1 | 241.6 | 232.1 | 208.7 | 196.6 | 2,684.9 |
| Source 1: Meteociel[3] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: NOAA (sun 1961–1990)[4] | |||||||||||||
| Climate data forAtuona | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30 (86) | 31 (87) | 31 (87) | 31 (87) | 29 (85) | 29 (84) | 28 (83) | 28 (83) | 29 (84) | 29 (85) | 30 (86) | 30 (86) | 29 (85) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 27 (81) | 27 (81) | 28 (82) | 28 (82) | 27 (80) | 26 (79) | 26 (78) | 26 (78) | 26 (79) | 26 (79) | 27 (80) | 27 (81) | 27 (80) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 23 (74) | 24 (75) | 24 (76) | 24 (76) | 24 (75) | 23 (74) | 23 (74) | 23 (73) | 23 (73) | 23 (73) | 23 (74) | 23 (74) | 23 (74) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 110 (4.5) | 91 (3.6) | 140 (5.4) | 120 (4.6) | 120 (4.8) | 180 (6.9) | 120 (4.8) | 100 (4) | 81 (3.2) | 79 (3.1) | 66 (2.6) | 89 (3.5) | 1,290 (50.9) |
| Source: Weatherbase[5] | |||||||||||||
| Climate data forTubuai (Köppen Af) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 32.0 (89.6) | 32.0 (89.6) | 32.7 (90.9) | 32.3 (90.1) | 32.0 (89.6) | 31.0 (87.8) | 30.0 (86.0) | 30.0 (86.0) | 29.0 (84.2) | 30.0 (86.0) | 30.0 (86.0) | 32.0 (89.6) | 32.7 (90.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 28.0 (82.4) | 28.6 (83.5) | 28.6 (83.5) | 27.4 (81.3) | 25.8 (78.4) | 24.4 (75.9) | 23.9 (75.0) | 23.7 (74.7) | 23.9 (75.0) | 24.7 (76.5) | 25.9 (78.6) | 26.9 (80.4) | 26.0 (78.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 25.7 (78.3) | 26.2 (79.2) | 26.0 (78.8) | 24.9 (76.8) | 23.2 (73.8) | 21.7 (71.1) | 21.2 (70.2) | 21.0 (69.8) | 21.1 (70.0) | 22.1 (71.8) | 23.4 (74.1) | 24.5 (76.1) | 23.4 (74.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 23.3 (73.9) | 23.7 (74.7) | 23.4 (74.1) | 22.3 (72.1) | 20.7 (69.3) | 19.0 (66.2) | 18.6 (65.5) | 18.3 (64.9) | 18.4 (65.1) | 19.5 (67.1) | 20.8 (69.4) | 22.0 (71.6) | 20.8 (69.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 14.5 (58.1) | 15.5 (59.9) | 15.8 (60.4) | 14.6 (58.3) | 10.0 (50.0) | 10.0 (50.0) | 10.0 (50.0) | 9.2 (48.6) | 10.3 (50.5) | 10.7 (51.3) | 12.0 (53.6) | 14.3 (57.7) | 9.2 (48.6) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 194.4 (7.65) | 192.4 (7.57) | 176.3 (6.94) | 165.3 (6.51) | 153.3 (6.04) | 119.0 (4.69) | 136.0 (5.35) | 133.4 (5.25) | 104.8 (4.13) | 116.5 (4.59) | 133.9 (5.27) | 200.4 (7.89) | 1,825.7 (71.88) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 13.2 | 12.9 | 13.3 | 12.5 | 12.4 | 11.4 | 11.2 | 11.3 | 9.6 | 9.9 | 10.2 | 13.2 | 141.1 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | — | — | 204.9 | 175.6 | 158.6 | 141.6 | 165.5 | 165.0 | — | — | 199.9 | 177.0 | — |
| Source:Météo-France[6] | |||||||||||||
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This article incorporatespublic domain material fromThe World Factbook.CIA.
