Vahitahi, or ''Vaitake'', is an
atoll
An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...
in the eastern area of the
Tuamotu Archipelago,
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 ...
. Vahitahi's nearest neighbour is
Akiaki, which is located to the northwest.
Vahitahi is a small atoll with an elongated oval shape. It measures approximately in length and has a maximum width of . Its reef encloses completely the lagoon. The total land area of the islands on its reef is .
The main village is called Mohitu (formerly Temanufaara). There were 105 inhabitants according to the 2012 census.
History
Vahitahi Atoll was the first land that
Louis Antoine de Bougainville found in the Pacific in 1768.
He called the atoll ''Les Quatre Facardins'', after a novel of the time.
James Cook
Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...
reached Vahitahi the following year and named it ''Lagoon Island''.
Vahitahi has a
territorial airport. It was inaugurated in 1986.
Administration
Administratively Vahitahi Atoll belongs to the
commune of
Nukutavake.
References
*
Vahitahi AirportAtoll names
External links
Atolls of the Tuamotus
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