Map of French Polynesia | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: The French annexed various Polynesian island groups during the 19th century. In September 1995 France stirred up widespread protests by resuming nuclear testing on the Mururoa atoll after a three-year moratorium. The tests were suspended in January 1996. In recent years French Polynesia's autonomy has been considerably expanded.


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Location: Oceania archipelagoes in the South Pacific Ocean about half way between South America and Australia

Geographic coordinates: 15 00 S 140 00 W

Map reference: Oceania

Area
Total: 4,167 km²
Rank: 174
Land: 3,827 km²
Water: 340 km²
Comparative: slightly less than one-third the size of Connecticut

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 2,525 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate: tropical but moderate

Terrain: mixture of rugged high islands and low islands with reefs

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
Extremes highest point: Mont Orohena 2,241 m

Natural resources: timber fish cobalt hydropower

Land use
Arable land: 0.75%
Permanent crops: 5.5%
Other: 93.75% (2005)

Irrigated land: 10 km² (2003)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: occasional cyclonic storms in January

Geography
Note: includes five archipelagoes (four volcanic one coral); Makatea in French Polynesia is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean - the others are Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and Nauru


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Population: 291,000 (July 2010 est.)
Rank: 179
Growth rate: 1.355% (2010 est.)
Growth rate rank: 92
Below poverty line: NA%

Nationality
Noun: French Polynesian
Adjective: French Polynesian

Ethnic groups: Polynesian 78% Chinese 12% local French 6% metropolitan French 4%

Languages: French 61.1% (official) Polynesian 31.4% (official) Asian languages 1.2% other 0.3% unspecified 6% (2002 census)

Religions: Protestant 54% Roman Catholic 30% other 10% no religion 6%

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 24.3%
15-64 years: 68.9% (male 102,537/female 95,317)
65 years and over: 6.8% (male 9,821/female 9,629) (2010 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age
Total: 29.5 years
Male: 29.8 years
Female: 29.2 years (2010 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.355% (2010 est.)
Rank: 92

Birth rate: 15.67 births/1000 population (2010 est.)
Rank: 133

Death rate: 4.8 deaths/1000 population (July 2010 est.)
Rank: 193

Net migration rate: 2.69 migrant(s)/1000 population (2010 est.)
Rank: 30

Population distribution

Urbanization
Urban population: 52% of total population
Rate of urbanization: 1.3% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: NA

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.02 male(s)/female
Total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 7.41 deaths/1000 live births
Rank: 165
Male: 8.51 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 6.26 deaths/1000 live births (2010 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 76.91 years
Rank: 64
Male: 74.44 years
Female: 79.5 years (2010 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.89 children born/woman (2010 est.)
Rank: 145

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: NA
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: NA

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures: NA

Literacy
Definition: age 14 and over can read and write
Total population: 98%
Male: 98%
Female: 98% (1977 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Overseas Lands of French Polynesia
Conventional short form: French Polynesia
Local long form: Pays d'outre-mer de la Polynesie Francaise
Local short form: Polynesie Francaise
Former: French Colony of Oceania

Government type: NA

Capital
Name: Papeete
Geographic coordinates: 17 32 S 149 34 W
Time difference: UTC-10 (5 hours behind Washington DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions: none (overseas lands of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government but there are five archipelagic divisions named Archipel des Marquises Archipel des Tuamotu Archipel des Tubuai Iles du Vent Iles Sous-le-Vent

Dependent areas

Independence: none (overseas lands of France)

National holiday: Bastille Day 14 July (1789)

Constitution: 4 October 1958 (French Constitution)

Legal system: the laws of France where applicable apply

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Nicolas SARKOZY represented by High Commissioner of the Republic Adolphe COLRAT (since 7 July 2008); note - will be replaced in 2011 by Richard DIDIER
Head of government: President of French Polynesia Gaston Tong SANG (since 24 November 2009); President of the Territorial Assembly Oscar TEMARU (since 10 April 2010)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers; president submits a list of members of the Territorial Assembly for approval by them to serve as ministers
Elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; high commissioner appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; president of the territorial government and the president of the Territorial Assembly elected by the members of the assembly for five-year terms (no term limits)

Legislative branch: unicameral Territorial Assembly or Assemblee Territoriale (57 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
Elections: last held on 27 January 2008 (first round) and 10 February 2008 (second round) (next to be held in 2013)
Election results: percent of vote by party - Our Home alliance 45.2% Union for Democracy alliance 37.2% Popular Rally (Tahoeraa Huiraatira) 17.2% other 0.5%; seats by party - Our Home alliance 27 Union for Democracy alliance 20 Popular Rally 10
Note: two seats were elected to the French Senate on 21 September 2008 (next to be held in September 2014); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP 1 independent 1; two seats were elected to the French National Assembly on 10-17 June 2007 (next to be held in 2012); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP 2

Judicial branch: Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel; Court of the First Instance or Tribunal de Premiere Instance; Court of Administrative Law or Tribunal Administratif

Political parties and leaders: Alliance for a New Democracy or ADN(includes the parties The New Star and This Country is Yours); New Fatherland Party (Ai'a Api); Our Home alliance; People's Servant Party (Tavini Huiraatira); Popular Rally (Tahoeraa Huiraatira); Union for Democracy alliance or UPD

International organization participation: ITUC PIF (associate member) SPC UPU

Diplomatic representation
In the us: none (overseas lands of France)
From the us: none (overseas lands of France)

Flag description: two red horizontal bands encase a wide white band in a 1:2:1 ratio; centered on the white band is a disk with a blue and white wave pattern depicting the sea on the lower half and a gold and white ray pattern depicting the sun on the upper half; a stylized red blue and white ship rides on the wave pattern; the ship has a crew of five represented by five stars that symbolize the five island groups; red and white are traditional Polynesian colors
Note: similar to the red-white-red flag of Tahiti the largest of the islands in French Polynesia which has no emblem in the white band; the flag of France is used for official occasions

National symbols

National anthem
Name: 'Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui'
Lyricsmusic: Maeva BOUGES Irmine TEHEI Angele TEROROTUA Johanna NOUVEAU Patrick AMARU Louis MAMATUI and Jean-Pierre CELESTIN
Note: adopted 1993; serves as a local anthem; as a territory of France 'La Marseillaise' is official (see France)

National heritage


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Economy overview: Since 1962 when France stationed military personnel in the region French Polynesia has changed from a subsistence agricultural economy to one in which a high proportion of the work force is either employed by the military or supports the tourist industry. With the halt of French nuclear testing in 1996 the military contribution to the economy fell sharply. Tourism accounts for about one-fourth of GDP and is a primary source of hard currency earnings. Other sources of income are pearl farming and deep-sea commercial fishing. The small manufacturing sector primarily processes agricultural products. The territory benefits substantially from development agreements with France aimed principally at creating new businesses and strengthening social services.

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $4.58 billion (2003 est.)
Rank: 163

Real gdp growth rate: 5.1% (2002)
Rank: 134

Real gdp per capita: $17,500 (2003 est.)
Rank: 66

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 3.5%
Industry: 20.4%
Services: 76.1% (2005)

Agriculture products: fish; coconuts vanilla vegetables fruits coffee; poultry beef dairy products

Industries: tourism pearls agricultural processing handicrafts phosphates

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Labor force: 116,000 (2007)
Rank: 180
By occupation agriculture: 13%
By occupation industry: 19%
By occupation services: 68% (2002)

Unemployment rate: 11.7% (2005)
Rank: 125

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: NA%

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: NA%
Highest 10: NA%

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 1.1% (2006 est.)
Rank: 22

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares: $NA

Current account balance

Exports: $211 million (2005 est.)
Rank: 180
Commodities: cultured pearls coconut products mother-of-pearl vanilla shark meat

Imports: $1.706 billion (2005 est.)
Rank: 156
Commodities: fuels foodstuffs machinery and equipment

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $NA

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique francs (XPF) per US dollar - 87.59 (2007) 94.97 (2006) 95.89 (2005) 96.04 (2004) 105.66 (2003)
Note: pegged at the rate of 119.25 XPF to the euro


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Electricity
Production: 650 million kWh (2007 est.)
Production rank: 154
Consumption: 604.5 million kWh (2007 est.)
Consumption rank: 155
Exports: 0 kWh (2008 est.)
Imports: 0 kWh (2008 est.)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2008 est.)
Production rank: 194
Consumption: 0 m³ (2008 est.)
Consumption rank: 183
Exports: 0 m³ (2008 est.)
Exports rank: 177
Imports: 0 m³ (2008 est.)
Imports rank: 178
Proven reserves: 0 m³ (1 January 2010 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 177

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 54,300 (2009)
Main lines in use rank: 158
Mobile cellular: 208,300 (2009)
Mobile cellular rank: 171

Telephone system
General assessment: NA
Domestic: combined fixed and mobile-cellular density is roughly 90 per 100 persons
International: country code - 689; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) (2009)

Broadcast media: the publicly-owned French Overseas Network (RFO) which operates in France's overseas departments and territories broadcasts on 2 television channels and 1 radio station; a government-owned TV station is operating; a small number of privately-owned radio stations also broadcast (2008)

Internet
Country code: .pf
Hosts: 36,056 (2010)
Hosts rank: 95
Users: 120,000 (2009)
Users rank: 154

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 53 (2010)
Rank: 90
With paved runways total: 46
With paved runways over 3047 m: 2
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 4
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 33
With paved runways under 914 m: 7 (2010)
With unpaved runways total: 7
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 3
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 4 (2010)

Heliports: 1 (2010)

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways
Total: 2,590 km
Rank: 169
Paved: 1735 km
Unpaved: 855 km (1999)

Waterways

Merchant marine
Registered in other countries: 13 (2010)
Rank: 109

Ports and terminals: Papeete


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Disputes international: none

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs