Hao (French Polynesia)

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Hao
Hao2.jpg
NASA picture of Hao Atoll
Hao is located in French Polynesia
Hao
Hao
Geography
LocationPacific Ocean
Coordinates18°4′31″S 140°56′43″W / 18.07528°S 140.94528°W / -18.07528; -140.94528
ArchipelagoTuamotus
Area720 km2 (280 sq mi)  (lagoon)
35 km2 (14 sq mi) (above water)
Length50 km (31 mi)
Width14 km (8.7 mi)
Highest elevation3 m (10 ft)
Administration
France
Overseas collectivityFrench Polynesia
Administrative subdivisionÎles Tuamotu-Gambier
CommuneHao
Largest settlement
Demographics
Population1027[1] (2017)
Hao
Commune
Flag of Hao
Flag
Localitzación de Hao en las Tuamotu.png
Location of Hao
Coordinates: 18°04′31″S 140°56′43″W / 18.0753°S 140.9453°W / -18.0753; -140.9453Coordinates: 18°04′31″S 140°56′43″W / 18.0753°S 140.9453°W / -18.0753; -140.9453
CountryFrance
Overseas collectivityFrench Polynesia
SubdivisionÎles Tuamotu-Gambier
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Yseult Butcher[2]
Area
1
65.0 km2 (25.1 sq mi)
Population
 (2017)[1]
1,258
 • Density19/km2 (50/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC−10:00
INSEE/Postal code
98720 /98767
Elevation0–3 m (0.0–9.8 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Hao, or Haorangi,[3] is a large coral atoll in the central part of the Tuamotu Archipelago. It has c. 1000 people living on 35 km². It was used to house the military support base for the nuclear tests on Mururoa. Because of its shape, French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville named it "Île de la Harpe" (Harp Island).

Geography[]

Hao is 920 km east of Tahiti. It is 50 km long and 14 km wide. The lagoon is the fourth largest atoll in French Polynesia (after Rangiroa, Fakarava, and Makemo) and has only one navigable passage, at , on the north end of the atoll where strong currents prevail up to 20 knots with bores. The lagoon covers an area of 720 km².

The climate is maritime, with temperatures oscillating between 23 and 32 °C throughout the year.

The chief town is the village of , where the main economic activity is the cultivation of pearls.

Hao cemetery

History[]

The first recorded European arriving on Hao was Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 10 February 1606. He named it Conversion de San Pablo.[4] He was followed by in 1774.

Because of its shape, French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville named it "Île de la Harpe" (Harp Island). In some maps it also appears as Bow Island.[3][5]

Hao was the first atoll of the Tuamotus that Russian explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen visited in 1820 on the ships Vostok and Mirni.

In the late-1980s, two French intelligence (DGSE) operatives were briefly confined to the military base on the island after France obtained their release from a New Zealand prison for sinking the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior. Their earlier-than-agreed-upon repatriation from the island by the French government became a diplomatic incident between New Zealand and France.

Hao's military airfield, now known as Hao Airport, was transferred to the civilian authorities in 2000. This airport (IATA: HOI, ICAO: NTTO) serves many of the smaller eastern Tuamotus, whose landing strips are too short to land aircraft large enough to make the flight to Tahiti.

The economic future of the atoll remains in question: the military base, which was the support base for nuclear testing on the nearby Mururoa atoll, was permanently shut down in 2002, along with its many support facilities, including the electrical and desalinization plants and the hospital. The livelihood of many of the atoll's inhabitants was directly tied to the military base.

Administration[]

Together with 11 other islands, Hao forms the commune of Hao,[6] which is part of the administrative subdivision of Îles Tuamotu-Gambier.[7] The seat of the commune is the village Otepa.[6] The commune consists of three associated communes: Hao (including the uninhabited islands Ahunui, Nengonengo, Manuhangi and Paraoa), Amanu (including the uninhabited islands Rekareka and Tauere) and Hereheretue (including the uninhabited islands Anuanuraro and Anuanurunga and the inhabited island Nukutepipi). As of the 2017 census, the commune's total population was 1258.[1]

Transport[]

Hao Airport (IATA: HOI, ICAO: NTTO) is in the island's north. It is used as a base by Air Tahiti, the domestic airline of French Polynesia.

Related article[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Répartition de la population en Polynésie française en 2017, Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française
  2. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Young, J.L. (1899). "Names of the Paumotu Islands, with the old names so far as they are known". Journal of the Polynesian Society. 8 (4): 264–268. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  4. ^ Kelly, Celsus, O.F.M. La Austrialia del Espiritu Santo. The Journal of Fray Martín de Munilla O.F.M. and other documents relating to the Voyage of Pedro Fernández de Quirós to the South Sea (1605-1606) and the Franciscan Missionary Plan (1617-1627) Cambridge, 1966, p.39,62.
  5. ^ Salmond, Anne (2010). Aphrodite's Island. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 93. ISBN 9780520261143.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Décret n°72-407 du 17 mai 1972 portant création de communes dans le territoire de la Polynésie française, Légifrance
  7. ^ Décret n° 2005-1611 du 20 décembre 2005 pris pour l'application du statut d'autonomie de la Polynésie française, Légifrance

External links[]


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