Tikei, also known as Manu, Tikai and Tiku is an
island
An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...
in the
Tuamotu
The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (, 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 ...
group 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 ...
. Tikei is not a typical Tuamotu atoll, as its former lagoon filled in. The island is long, wide, and has a land area of . Its highest elevation is
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
Geographically Tikei is part of the
King George Islands (Îles du Roi Georges) subgroup, which includes
Ahe
Ahe, Ahemaru or Omaru, is a coral atoll in the northern Tuamotus, Tuamotu Archipelago, 14 km to the west of Manihi, in French Polynesia. Its ring shape is broken by only a single small passage into the lagoon. It has a land area of approxi ...
,
Manihi
Manihi, or Paeua, is a coral atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago, part of French Polynesia. It is one of the northernmost of the Tuamotus, located in the King George subgroup. The closest land to Manihi is Ahe Atoll, located 14 km to the west. ...
,
Takapoto
Takapoto, Tua-poto or Oura, is an atoll in the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. It has a length of and a width of .
The nearest land is Takaroa Atoll, located to the northeast.
Takapoto's lagoon has a high salinity and a strong phytoplankt ...
,
Takaroa and Tikei.
Tikei is uninhabited. There used to be human habitation and the main village was called Tereporepo. The closest land is Takapoto Atoll, located 73 km to the Northwest. Tikei Island has been poorly researched.
History
The first recorded European to arrive to Tikei was Dutch mariner
Jacob Roggeveen
Jacob Roggeveen (1 February 1659 – 31 January 1729) was a Dutch explorer who was sent to find Terra Australis and Davis Land, but instead found Easter Island (called so because he landed there on Easter Sunday). Jacob Roggeveen also found Bor ...
on May 18, 1722. He named this island "Carlshoff".
Russian mariner
Otto von Kotzebue
Otto von Kotzebue (; 30 December 1787 – 15 February 1846) was a Baltic German naval officer in the Imperial Russian Navy. He commanded two naval expeditions into the Pacific for the purposes of exploration and scientific investigation. The fi ...
came to Tikei in 1816. He named it "Romanzov", after the main sponsor of his expedition and the
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count
Rumyantsev.
Administration
Tikei belongs to the commune of Takaroa, which consists of the island of
Takaroa, the island of Tikei and the atoll of
Takapoto
Takapoto, Tua-poto or Oura, is an atoll in the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. It has a length of and a width of .
The nearest land is Takaroa Atoll, located to the northeast.
Takapoto's lagoon has a high salinity and a strong phytoplankt ...
.
See also
*
Desert island
An uninhabited island, desert island, or deserted island, is an island, islet or atoll which lacks permanent human population. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereotypes ...
*
List of islands
This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water
A body of water or waterbody is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refer ...
References
External links
{{FrenchPolynesia-geo-stub
Islands of the Tuamotus
Uninhabited islands of French Polynesia