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Mangaréva Islands
Mangareva is the central and largest island of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. It is surrounded by smaller islands: Taravai in the southwest, Aukena and Akamaru in the southeast, and islands in the north. Mangareva has a permanent population of 1,239 (2012) and the largest village on the island, Rikitea, is the chief town of the Gambier Islands. The island is approximately long and, at , it comprises about 56% of the land area of the whole Gambier group. Mangareva has a high central ridge which runs the length of the island. The highest point in the Gambiers is Mount Duff, on Mangareva, rising to along the island's south coast. The island has a large lagoon in diameter containing reefs whose fish and shellfish helped ancient islanders survive much more successfully than on nearby islands with no reefs. History Mangareva was first settled by Polynesians in the first millennium CE. While carbon dating has so far only dated settlements to 1160–1220, there is evi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States's civil list of government space agencies, space program, aeronautics research and outer space, space research. National Aeronautics and Space Act, Established in 1958, it succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the American space development effort a distinct civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. It has since led most of America's space exploration programs, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968–1972 Apollo program missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. Currently, NASA supports the International Space Station (ISS) along with the Commercial Crew Program and oversees the development of the Orion (spacecraft), Orion spacecraft and the Sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Wilson (Captain)
Captain James Wilson (1760–1814), commanded the British ship Duff (1794 ship), ''Duff'', which the London Missionary Society contracted in 1797 to convey a team of missionaries (consisting of thirty men, six women, and three children) to their postings in Tahiti, Tonga, and the Marquesas Islands. Life Wilson was born in 1760. He had been a British soldier during the American War of Independence and then he had worked for the East India Company. He had been an adventurer who was noted for not being religious. Eventually he had enough money to retire and it was during his retirement that he was converted to Christianity. He heard of the formation of a missionary society via the ''Evangelical Magazine''. His track record made him the focus of their efforts. Thomas Haweis who had inspired the creation of missionaries was particularly supportive. The objective was to send missionaries to the South Seas. Wilson had volunteered to lead such a journey and this offer was accepted in Septe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Météo-France
Météo-France is the official French meteorological administration, also offering services to Andorra and Monaco. It has the powers of the state and can exercise them in relation to meteorology. Météo-France is in charge of observing, studying, and forecasting weather and monitoring snowpack. The organization also issues weather warnings for the Metropole and the overseas territories. Météo-France is also in charge of recording and predicting the climate. Organisation The organisation was established by decree in June 1993 and is a department of the Ministry of Transportation. It is headquartered in Paris but many domestic operations have been decentralised to Toulouse. Its budget of around €300 million is funded by state grants, aeronautic royalties and sale of commercial services. Météo-France has a particularly strong international presence, and is the French representative at the World Meteorological Organization. The organisation is a leading member of EUM ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (temperate), ''D'' (continental), and ''E'' (polar). Each group and subgroup is represented by a letter. All climates are assigned a main group (the first letter). All climates except for those in the ''E'' group are assigned a seasonal precipitation subgroup (the second letter). For example, ''Af'' indicates a tropical rainforest climate. The system assigns a temperature subgroup for all groups other than those in the ''A'' group, indicated by the third letter for climates in ''B'', ''C'', ''D'', and the second letter for climates in ''E''. Other examples include: ''Cfb'' indicating an oceanic climate with warm summers as indicated by the ending ''b.'', while ''Dwb'' indicates a semi-Monsoon continental climate, monsoonal continental climate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropical Rainforest Climate
A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States, and Okinawa, Japan that fall into the tropical rainforest climate category. They experience high mean annual temperatures, small temperature ranges, and rain that falls throughout the year. Regions with this climate are typically designated ''Af'' by the Köppen climate classification. A tropical rainforest climate is typically hot, very humid, and wet with no dry season. Description Tropical rainforests have a type of tropical climate (with an average temperature of at least in their coldest month) in which there is no dry season—all months have an average precipitation value of at least . There are no distinct wet or dry seasons as rainfall is high throughout the months. One day in a tropical rainforest climate can be very simil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fangataufa
Fangataufa (or Fangatafoa) is an uninhabited coral atoll in the eastern part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. The atoll has been fully-owned by the French state since 1964. From 1966 to 1996 it was used as a nuclear test site by the French government. In total, 4 atmospheric and 10 underground nuclear explosions were carried out on the atoll. Geography The atoll is a coral outgrowth of a seamount which rises some from the seafloor, to a depth of . The seamount was formed 33.4 - 34.7 million years ago by the Pitcairn hotspot. The island is approx. long and wide. It has a lagoon area of and a land area of . It is located south of Moruroa atoll, east of Tematangi, southwest of the Gambier Islands and southeast of Tahiti. Access to the lagoon is through a pass lying SW of the northernmost point of the atoll; the channel has a width of about and a dredged depth of . A quay, in of water, is situated in the NE part of the lagoon; another quay, long in of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moruroa
Moruroa (Mururoa, Mururura), also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is located about southeast of Tahiti. Administratively Moruroa Atoll is part of the Commune of France, commune of Tureia, which includes the atolls of Tureia, Fangataufa, Tematangi and Vanavana. France undertook nuclear weapon tests between 1966 and 1996 at Moruroa and Fangataufa, causing international protests, notably in 1974 and 1995. The number of tests performed on Moruroa has been variously reported as 175 and 181. History The first recorded visit this atoll was Commander Philip Carteret on HMS ''Swallow'' in 1767, just a few days after he had discovered Pitcairn Island. Carteret named Mururoa "Bishop of Osnaburgh Island". In 1792, the British whaler was wrecked here, and it became known as Matilda's Rocks. Frederick William Beechey visited it in 1826. Early European explorers found that the atoll w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jules Grévy
François Judith Paul Grévy (15 August 1807 – 9 September 1891), known as Jules Grévy (), was a French people, French lawyer and politician who served as President of France from 1879 to 1887. He was a leader of the Opportunist Republicans, Moderate Republicans, and given that his predecessors were Monarchism in France, monarchists who tried without success to restore the French monarchy, Grévy is considered the first real Republicanism, republican president of France. During Grévy's presidency from 1879 to 1887, according to David Bell, there was a disunity among his cabinets. Only one survived more than a year. Grévy paid attention chiefly to defense, internal order, and foreign relations. Critics argue that Grévy's confusing approach to appointments set a bad precedent for handling crises. Grévy's son-in-law was implicated in a corruption scandal in 1887, and Grévy had to resign after exhausting the pool of willing politicians to form a fresh government. Born in a sm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernardo Putairi
Bernardo Putairi (died 1 January or 7 January 1889) was the Prince Regent of the island of Mangareva, and other Gambier Islands including Akamaru, Aukena, Taravai and Temoe from 1873 to 1881. He served as regent and de facto monarch during the interregnum period when the royal succession of Mangareva was in doubt and after the death of the last royal heir became the last monarch of the island kingdom. His name is often written Putaïri or Putairï in French sources. Biography Bernardo Putairi was a member of the royal ''togoʻiti'' class of chiefs of the island of Mangareva in the Gambier Islands. He was considered to be from a junior branch of the main royal line. According to French Picpus priest Honoré Laval, he was the descendant of a fallen dynasty. Christianity was introduced to the Gambier Islands in his lifetime by French Picpus priests, Honoré Laval and François Caret with the support of King Maputeoa (of the main line) and his uncle Matua, the high priest. Pu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Honoré Laval
Honoré Laval, SS.CC., (born ''Louis-Jacques Laval''; 5/6 February 1808 – 1 November 1880) was a French people, French Catholic priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (also known as the Picpus Fathers), a religious institute of the Roman Catholic Church, who evangelized the Gambier Islands. Life Louis-Jacques Laval was born 6 January 6, 1807, in the small hamlet of Joimpy, Saint-Léger-des-Aubées in Eure-et-Loir. He was professed in the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Picpus) December 30, 1825, under the name of Brother Honore and was ordained priest in Rouen in 1831. The Gambier Islands Accompanied by Fathers François Caret, Chrysostome Liausu, and Columba Murphy, Brother Columba Murphy, he travelled by coach from Paris via Tours and Poitiers to Bordeaux, where they boarded the ''Sylphide'', which sailed on 1 February 1834 for Valparaíso, arriving on 13 May. Taking passage on Captain Sweetwood's ship, the ''Peruvian'', out of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arone Teikatoara
Arone Teikatoara (died 30 October 1881) was the penultimate Prince Regent of the island of Mangareva, and other Gambier Islands including Akamaru, Aukena, Taravai and Temoe from 1869 to 1873. He served as regent and de facto monarch during the interregnum period when the royal succession of Mangareva was in doubt. His first name has also been spelled "Arona", "Aarona" or "Aarone". Biography Arone Teikatoara was a member of the royal ''togoʻiti'' class of chiefs of the island of Mangareva in the Gambier Islands. He was a younger brother or the son of a younger brother of King Maputeoa. He shared the same name with Te Ika-tohora, the father of Maputeoa, who was killed by a shark. Christianity was introduced to the Gambier Islands in the 1830s by French Picpus priests, Honoré Laval and François Caret with the support of King Maputeoa and his uncle Matua, the high priest. When King Maputeoa died on 20 June 1857, he was succeeded as King of Mangareva by his young son, Joseph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maputeoa
Te Maputeoa (baptized Gregorio Stanislas; reigned as Gregorio I; born c. 1814 – 20 June 1857) was a monarch of the Polynesian island of Mangareva and the other Gambier Islands. He was the King or ''ʻAkariki'' (paramount chief), as well as the penultimate king of the island of Mangareva, and other Gambier Islands including Akamaru, Aukena, Taravai and Temoe. He reigned from 1830 until his death in 1857. During Maputeoa's reign, the country, which was deeply rooted in native beliefs and even cannibalism, became a Roman Catholic community. This was accomplished by removing all vestiges of native beliefs, such as destroying the traditional wooden images of their indigenous faith deified in ''maraes'' and replacing them with churches. The king was baptized into Catholicism on 25 August 1836. He learned about Christianity from the island's missionaries, headed by the French Picpus priests, Honoré Laval and François Caret. His uncle Matua, the High Priest of the local temp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
