Punaauia is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the suburbs of Papeete in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

. Punaauia is located on the island of

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

, in the

administrative subdivision Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

of the

Windward Islands french: Îles du Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Windward Islands. Clockwise: Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean Sea No ...

, themselves part of the

Society Islands The Society Islands (french: Îles de la Société, officially ''Archipel de la Société;'' ty, Tōtaiete mā) are an archipelago located in the South Pacific Ocean. Politically, they are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the ...

.Décret n° 2005-1611 du 20 décembre 2005 pris pour l'application du statut d'autonomie de la Polynésie française

Légifrance Légifrance is the official website of the French government for the publication of legislation, regulations, and legal information. Access to the site is free. Virtually complete, it presents or refers to all concerned institutions or administrat ...

In the late 1890s, the French painter

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

lived in Punaauia. Here he painted his masterpiece '' Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?''. The commune borders Faaā on the north and Pāea on the south.

History

Like many of the other communes and islands of French Polynesia, the area was first settled by early Polynesians from

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

around 1,000 years ago. These people have already settled on the

Marquesas Islands The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in ...

and then they traveled on their sea canoes to the

. They had lived off of the fish and fruits of

. Most of the early Polynesians had built houses on the beach. Later on, they had built houses further inland because of high tide. Captain James Cook came on his expedition to chart the Pacific islands during 1770. He also came with explorer Englishman

Samuel Wallis Samuel Wallis (23 April 1728 – 21 January 1795 in London) was a British naval officer and explorer of the Pacific Ocean. He made the first recorded visit by a European navigator to Tahiti. Biography Wallis was born at Fenteroon Farm, n ...

to explore. James Cook later went to Australia.

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

came to the

in the 1800s from the western Pacific. Punaauia experienced a major population boom in the late 1990s. At the 2017 census it had a population of 28,103, making it the second most populous commune in French Polynesia.Répartition de la population en Polynésie française en 2017
Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française

Geography

Climate

Punaauia has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Am''). The average annual temperature in Punaauia is . The average annual rainfall is with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in March, at around , and lowest in August, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Punaauia was on 25 March 2016; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 16 August 1997.

Transport

The Aremiti ferry is the main ferry that sails to Moorea and a few other

. The ferry is white with red stripes. The other is the Moorea Ferry which is white on the top and blue on the bottom.

Twin towns – sister cities

Punaauia is twinned with: *

Dumbéa Dumbéa (, ) is a commune in the suburbs of Nouméa in the South Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The population of the commune was 35,873 according to the 2019 census. From 1904 to 1940 the town w ...

, New Caledonia

References

Communes of French Polynesia {{FrenchPolynesia-stub