Punaʻauia | |
|---|---|
 Punaʻauia, in the southern suburbs ofPapeʻete | |
 Location of the commune (in red) within the Windward Islands | |
 Location of Punaʻauia | |
| Coordinates:17°38′S149°36′W / 17.63°S 149.60°W /-17.63; -149.60 | |
| Country | France |
| Overseas collectivity | French Polynesia |
| Subdivision | Windward Islands |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Simplicio Lissant[1] |
Area 1 | 75.9 km2 (29.3 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | 28,781 |
| • Density | 379/km2 (982/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC−10:00 |
| INSEE/Postal code | 98738 /98718 |
| Elevation | 0–2,241 m (0–7,352 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Punaʻauia is acommune in the suburbs ofPapeʻete inFrench Polynesia, an overseas territory ofFrance in thePacific Ocean. Punaʻauia is located on the island ofTahiti, in theadministrative subdivision of theWindward Islands, themselves part of theSociety Islands.[3] In the late 1890s, the French painterPaul Gauguin lived in Punaʻauia. Here he painted his masterpieceWhere Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?. The commune bordersFaʻaʻā on the north andPāʻea on the south.
Like many of the other communes and islands ofFrench Polynesia, the area was first settled by early Polynesians fromAsia around 1,000 years ago. These people have already settled on theMarquesas Islands and then they traveled on their sea canoes to theSociety Islands. They had lived off of the fish and fruits ofTahiti. Most of the early Polynesians had built houses on the beach. Later on, they had built houses further inland because of high tide.
CaptainJames Cook came on his expedition to chart the Pacific islands during 1770. He also came with explorer EnglishmanSamuel Wallis to explore. James Cook later went toAustralia.Charles Darwin came to theSociety Islands in the 1800s from the western Pacific. Punaʻauia experienced a major population boom in the late 1990s. At the 2022 census it had a population of 28,781, making it the second most populous commune in French Polynesia.[2]
Punaʻauia has atropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classificationAm). The average annual temperature in Punaʻauia is 26.6 °C (79.9 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,677.0 mm (66.02 in) with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in March, at around 27.7 °C (81.9 °F), and lowest in August, at around 25.1 °C (77.2 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Punaʻauia was 35.5 °C (95.9 °F) on 25 March 2016; the coldest temperature ever recorded was 17.0 °C (62.6 °F) on 16 August 1997.
| Climate data for Punaʻauia (1991–2020 averages, extremes 1997−present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 35.0 (95.0) | 35.5 (95.9) | 35.5 (95.9) | 33.6 (92.5) | 33.2 (91.8) | 32.5 (90.5) | 32.0 (89.6) | 32.5 (90.5) | 32.5 (90.5) | 33.9 (93.0) | 34.5 (94.1) | 35.2 (95.4) | 35.5 (95.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 31.3 (88.3) | 31.4 (88.5) | 31.5 (88.7) | 31.3 (88.3) | 30.3 (86.5) | 29.3 (84.7) | 28.9 (84.0) | 29.0 (84.2) | 29.7 (85.5) | 30.1 (86.2) | 30.8 (87.4) | 31.2 (88.2) | 30.4 (86.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 27.5 (81.5) | 27.5 (81.5) | 27.7 (81.9) | 27.5 (81.5) | 26.6 (79.9) | 25.6 (78.1) | 25.2 (77.4) | 25.1 (77.2) | 25.8 (78.4) | 26.2 (79.2) | 26.9 (80.4) | 27.4 (81.3) | 26.6 (79.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 23.7 (74.7) | 23.7 (74.7) | 23.8 (74.8) | 23.8 (74.8) | 22.9 (73.2) | 22.0 (71.6) | 21.5 (70.7) | 21.2 (70.2) | 21.8 (71.2) | 22.3 (72.1) | 23.1 (73.6) | 23.6 (74.5) | 22.8 (73.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 19.7 (67.5) | 21.0 (69.8) | 20.4 (68.7) | 21.0 (69.8) | 18.2 (64.8) | 17.0 (62.6) | 17.1 (62.8) | 17.0 (62.6) | 17.8 (64.0) | 19.0 (66.2) | 18.8 (65.8) | 20.0 (68.0) | 17.0 (62.6) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 262.4 (10.33) | 269.1 (10.59) | 208.0 (8.19) | 133.2 (5.24) | 119.2 (4.69) | 78.3 (3.08) | 48.3 (1.90) | 43.3 (1.70) | 38.2 (1.50) | 71.2 (2.80) | 128.4 (5.06) | 277.4 (10.92) | 1,677 (66.02) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 15.4 | 13.6 | 11.8 | 8.7 | 7.0 | 5.4 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 7.3 | 9.9 | 15.3 | 108.4 |
| Source:Météo-France[4] | |||||||||||||
The Aremiti ferry is the main ferry that sails to Moʻorea and a few otherSociety Islands. The ferry is white with red stripes. The other is the Moorea Ferry which is white on the top and blue on the bottom.
Dumbéa, New Caledonia
| International | |
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| Geographic | |
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