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Aratika - Locator Map
Aratika is an atoll in the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. The nearest land is Kauehi Atoll, located 35 km to the south east. Aratika has an unusual butterfly shape. Its length is and its maximum width . It has a land area of approximately . The lagoon is wide and deep, and can be entered by two navigable passes. Aratika had 160 inhabitants in 2012. The main village is called Paparara. History Aratika appears in some maps as "Carlshoff Island.” This atoll was visited by the Charles Wilkes expedition on September 3, 1839. Prior to the pearl market slump at the turn of the century, Aratika was home to about 2000 people, thereafter dropping to about 200. Aratika has a private airfield which opened in 1998 and is owned by the Fourcade company. Much of the island's main infrastructure, including the school and many businesses from Paparara village, were moved for ease of access to and from the airstrip. The population has been slowly declining. It is cut in half ...
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NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), to give the U.S. space development effort a distinctly civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. NASA has since led most American space exploration, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968-1972 Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. NASA supports the International Space Station and oversees the development of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System for the crewed lunar Artemis program, Commercial Crew spacecraft, and the planned Lunar Gateway space station. The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program, which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown m ...
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Atoll
An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can grow. Most of the approximately 440 atolls in the world are in the Pacific Ocean. Two different, well-cited models, the subsidence and antecedent karst models, have been used to explain the development of atolls.Droxler, A.W. and Jorry, S.J., 2021. ''The Origin of Modern Atolls: Challenging Darwin's Deeply Ingrained Theory.'' ''Annual Review of Marine Science'', 13, pp.537-573. According to Charles Darwin's ''subsidence model'', the formation of an atoll is explained by the subsidence of a volcanic island around which a coral fringing reef has formed. Over geologic time, the volcanic island becomes extinct and eroded as it subsides completely beneath the surface of the ocean. As the volcanic island subsides, the coral fringing reef beco ...
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Taiaro
Taiaro, or Maro-taua, is a small atoll in the west of the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. It is one of the smallest of the Tuamotu atolls. Taiaro lies 42 km to the northeast of Raraka Atoll. The shape of Taiaro Atoll is roughly a polygon 3.7 km across. It has a deep sandy lagoon without any passes to the ocean. Taiaro Atoll currently has a population of 0 inhabitants. It is on sale. History The first recorded European arriving to Taiaro Atoll was Captain Robert FitzRoy on the ship ''Beagle'' in 1835. It was the last atoll of the Tuamotus to be recorded and charted. This atoll was visited by the United States Exploring Expedition led by Charles Wilkes on 29 Aug. 1839. Wilkes named it "King's Island" after the surname of the sailor at the masthead who had first sighted it. In 1977 Taiaro was declared a protected area by UNESCO under the name Biosphere Reserve Taiaro Atoll. Administration The uninhabited Taiaro is private property under the ownership of W.A. Robi ...
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Raraka
Raraka, or Te Marie, is an atoll in the west of the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. It lies 17 km to the southeast of Kauehi Atoll. The shape of Raraka Atoll is an oval 27 km long and 19 km wide. Its fringing reef has many sandbanks and small motu (islets). This atoll has a wide lagoon with a navigable pass to the ocean. Raraka has 96 inhabitants (2017). There is only one village on Motutapu in the northwest. Raraka Atoll in the Tuamotus should not be confused with Raraka in Malaita Malaita is the primary island of Malaita Province in Solomon Islands. Malaita is the most populous island of the Solomon Islands, with a population of 161,832 as of 2021, or more than a third of the entire national population. It is also the se ..., Solomon Islands . History The first recorded European to sight Raraka Atoll was Captain Ireland in 1831.
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Niau
Niau is a small atoll in French Polynesia, in the commune of Fakarava (Tuamotu archipelago). This atoll has a broad fringing reef, a diameter of 8 km and an area of 53 km2. Niau's lagoon is swampy, hypersaline and entirely enclosed. The narrow strip of land surrounding the lagoon is covered by marsh vegetation. The enclosed lagoon area is 33 km2, making the land size at 20 km2. The lagoon has an unusual green color. The only human settlement on Niau is Tupana, population 226 (). History The first recorded European to visit Niau was a Russian Admiral Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen in 1820 on ships the '' Vostok'' and '' Mirni''. He named this island Greig after Aleksey Greig. Administration Niau is administratively part of the commune of Fakarava, which consists of the island Fakarava, as well as the atolls of Aratika, Kauehi, Niau, Raraka, Taiaro and Toau. Ecology Niau is one of the few locations where the original Tuamotu tropical moist ...
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Kauehi
Kauehi, or Putake, is an atoll in the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. The nearest land is Raraka Atoll, located 17 km to the Southeast. Kauehi has a wide lagoon measuring 24 km by 18 km. The atoll has a lagoon area of , and a land area of . Kauehi's lagoon has one navigable pass. The atoll has 257 inhabitants . The main village is called Tearavero. History Even though Kauehi Atoll was probably well known to the pearl traders, the first recorded European to visit it was the ''Beagles captain Robert FitzRoy in 1835.''Les Atolls des Tuamotu''
Jacques Bonvallot, Institut de recherche pour le développement, nakladateľstvo IRD , 1994, , p. 275-282.
Kauehi was later visited b ...
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Fakarava
Fakarava, Havaiki-te-araro, Havai'i or Farea is an atoll in the west of the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. It is the second largest of the Tuamotu atolls. The nearest land is Toau, a coral atoll which lies to the northwest. The atoll is roughly rectangular and its length is and its width . Fakarava has a wide and deep lagoon with a surface of and two passes. The main pass to enter the lagoon, located in its north-western end, is known as Passe Garuae and it is the largest pass in French Polynesia; the southern pass is called Tumakohua. It has a land area of . Fakarava has 837 inhabitants; the main village is called Rotoava. History The Pōmare Dynasty originated here before ruling the island of Tahiti. The atoll was first mentioned by a European on 17 July 1820 by the Russian navigator Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, who gave it the name Wittgenstein Island. It was visited by the British sailor Ireland on 2 October 1831, who mentioned it under the same name, and the ...
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Charles Wilkes
Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War (1861–1865), he commanded ' during the Trent Affair in which he stopped a Royal Mail ship and removed two Confederate diplomats, which almost led to war between the United States and the United Kingdom. Early life and career Wilkes was born in New York City, on April 3, 1798, as the great nephew of the former Lord Mayor of London John Wilkes. His mother was Mary Seton, who died in 1802 when Charles was just three years old. As a result, Charles was raised by his aunt, Elizabeth Ann Seton, who would later convert to Roman Catholicism and become the first American-born woman canonized a saint by the Catholic Church. When Elizabeth was left widowed with five children, Charles was sent to a boarding school, and later attended Columbia College, which is the present-day Columbia Un ...
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Kauehi Atoll
Kauehi, or Putake, is an atoll in the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc .... The nearest land is Raraka Atoll, located 17 km to the Southeast. Kauehi has a wide lagoon measuring 24 km by 18 km. The atoll has a lagoon area of , and a land area of . Kauehi's lagoon has one navigable pass. The atoll has 257 inhabitants . The main village is called Tearavero. History Even though Kauehi Atoll was probably well known to the pearl traders, the first recorded European to visit it was the ''Beagles captain Robert FitzRoy in 1835.
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Tuamotu
The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (french: Îles Tuamotu, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extending (from northwest to southeast) over an area roughly the size of Western Europe. Their combined land area is . This archipelago's major islands are Anaa, Fakarava, Hao and Makemo. The Tuamotus have approximately 16,000 inhabitants. The islands were initially settled by Polynesians, and modern Tuamotuans have inherited from them a shared culture and the Tuamotuan language. The Tuamotus are a French overseas collectivity. History The early history of the Tuamotu islands is generally unknown. Archaeological findings suggest that the western Tuamotus were settled from the Society Islands as early as 900 CE or as late as 1200 CE. DNA evidence suggests that they were settled about 1110 CE. On the islands of Rangiroa, Manihi and M ...
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Aratika - Locator Map
Aratika is an atoll in the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. The nearest land is Kauehi Atoll, located 35 km to the south east. Aratika has an unusual butterfly shape. Its length is and its maximum width . It has a land area of approximately . The lagoon is wide and deep, and can be entered by two navigable passes. Aratika had 160 inhabitants in 2012. The main village is called Paparara. History Aratika appears in some maps as "Carlshoff Island.” This atoll was visited by the Charles Wilkes expedition on September 3, 1839. Prior to the pearl market slump at the turn of the century, Aratika was home to about 2000 people, thereafter dropping to about 200. Aratika has a private airfield which opened in 1998 and is owned by the Fourcade company. Much of the island's main infrastructure, including the school and many businesses from Paparara village, were moved for ease of access to and from the airstrip. The population has been slowly declining. It is cut in half ...
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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 continents of Asia and Oceania in the west and the Americas in the east. At in area (as defined with a southern Antarctic border), this largest division of the World Ocean—and, in turn, the hydrosphere—covers about 46% of Earth's water surface and about 32% of its total surface area, larger than Earth's entire land area combined .Pacific Ocean
. '' Britannica Concise.'' 2008: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The centers of both the
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