Marokau is an atoll of the
Tuamotu Archipelago in
French Polynesia
French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...
. It lies 53 km southeast of
Hikueru Atoll and it is separated by a 2 km wide sound from
Ravahere, its closest neighbor in the south.
Marokau and Ravahere form a minor subgroup of the Tuamotus known as the
Two Groups Islands.
Marokau Atoll is roughly triangular. The islands on its reef have a combined land area of 14.7 km
2. The shallow lagoon has a surface of 215.6 km
2.
Marokau has 91 inhabitants. Most live in Vaiori, the main village, located on an island at its northern end. The locals collect copra from the numerous coconut palms planted on the islands and
motus. There is another small village called Topitike in its south-eastern corner.
History
The first recorded European who sighted the two neighboring atolls of Marokau and Ravahere was
Louis Antoine de Bougainville in 1768.
Marokau Atoll was one of the main locations in the Tuamotu lagoons at which pearls were collected from the nineteenth century up to 1965.
The atoll was heavily hit by a cyclone in 1903 which caused the death of 95 people .
Administration
Marokau Atoll belongs to the
commune of Hikueru, which consists of the atolls of Marokau, Hikueru, Ravahere,
Reitoru and
Tekokota.
Additional images
File:Marokau Atoll.jpg, Marokau and Ravahere Atolls
File:MarokauISS009-E-6065.PNG, 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 ...
picture of Marokau Atoll; note Ravahere's northern tip on the lower right corner.
References
External links
Atoll list (in French)
Atolls of the Tuamotus
{{FrenchPolynesia-geo-stub