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35-696: The Tuamotus have approximately 16,000 inhabitants. The islands were initially settled by Polynesians , and modern Tuamotuans have inherited from them a shared culture and the Tuamotuan language . The Tuamotus are a French overseas collectivity . The early history of the Tuamotu islands is generally unknown. Archaeological findings suggest that the western Tuamotus were settled from the Society Islands as early as 900 CE or as late as 1200 CE. DNA evidence suggests that they were settled about 1110 CE. On

70-725: A new population by a very small number of individuals from a larger population, which also causes a loss of genetic variation. Soares et al. (2008) argued for an older pre- Holocene Sundaland origin in Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) based on mitochondrial DNA . The "out of Taiwan" model was challenged by a study from Leeds University published in Molecular Biology and Evolution . Examination of mitochondrial DNA lineages indicates that they have been evolving in ISEA for longer than previously believed. Ancestors of

105-583: Is 1,400 millimetres (55 in). Although average rainfall is lowest in September and November, it does not vary markedly throughout the year. The archipelago is geologically highly stable, because it was created by the action of the Easter Fracture Zone , which is only weakly active. There have been no volcanic eruptions during recorded history. The sparse soil of the coral islands does not support diverse vegetation. The coconut palm, which

140-500: Is predominantly based on subsistence agriculture . The most important sources of additional income are the cultivation of black pearls and the preparation of copra . Tourism -related income remains meager, especially compared to the income generated by tourism in the neighboring Society Islands . Modest tourism infrastructure is found on the atolls of Rangiroa and Manihi , which offer recreational scuba diving and snorkeling destinations. The inhabitants of Tuamotu produce 75% of

175-402: Is the basis of copra production, is of special economic importance. On a few of the islands, vanilla is also cultivated. Agriculture is generally otherwise limited to simple subsistence. Fruit and vegetable staples include yams , taro , breadfruit , and a wide range of tropical fruit. Pandanus leaves are traditionally woven together to make mats, hats, and roof thatches . However, many of

210-481: The Assembly of French Polynesia . The electoral district called Îles Gambier et Tuamotu Est comprises the commune of Gambier and eleven communes in eastern Tuamotu: Anaa, Fangatau, Hao, Hikueru, Makemo, Napuka, Nukutavake, Pukapuka, Reao, Tatakoto, and Tureia. The other five communes in western Tuamotu – Arutua, Fakarava, Manihi, Rangiroa, and Takaroa – form the electoral district called Îles Tuamotu Ouest . Despite

245-725: The Gambier Islands are geographically part of the Tuamotus because they lie at the southeastern extreme of the archipelago , they are geologically and culturally distinct. The ring-shaped atoll Taiaro , which lies in the northwestern portion of the archipelago, is a rare example of a coral reef that has a fully enclosed lagoon. Taiaro has been officially designated a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1977. The Tuamotu archipelago consists of eight groups of small islands and atolls: Related island groups include: A little more than fifty atolls are permanently populated;

280-477: The Gambier Islands to form the Îles Tuamotu-Gambier which is one of the five administrative divisions of French Polynesia . The Tuamotus are grouped into sixteen communes : Anaa ; Arutua ; Fakarava ; Fangatau ; Hao ; Hikueru ; Makemo ; Manihi ; Napuka ; Nukutavake ; Puka Puka ; Rangiroa ; Reao ; Takaroa ; Tatakoto ; and Tureia . The communes on Tuamotu are part of two different electoral districts ( circonscriptions électorales ) represented in

315-990: The Marquesas . From here, they expanded further to Hawaii by 900 AD, Easter Island by 1000 AD, and finally New Zealand by 1200 AD. Analysis by Kayser et al. (2008) found that only 21% of the Polynesian autosomal gene pool is of Australo-Melanesian origin, with the remaining 79% being of Austronesian origin. Another study by Friedlaender et al. (2008) also confirmed that some Polynesians are genetically closer to Micronesians , Taiwanese Aborigines , and Islander Southeast Asians . The study concluded that Polynesians moved through Melanesia fairly rapidly, allowing only limited admixture between Austronesians and Papuans. Polynesians predominantly belong to Haplogroup B (mtDNA), particularly to mtDNA B4a1a1 (the Polynesian motif). The high frequencies of mtDNA B4 in Polynesians are

350-671: The Tuamotu reed warbler , and the Tuamotu sandpiper . Thirteen species are globally threatened, and one has gone extinct. All of the islands of the Tuamotus are coral "low islands": essentially high sand bars built upon coral reefs . Makatea , southwest of the Palliser Islands, is one of three great phosphate rocks in the Pacific Ocean . (The others are Banaba in Kiribati , and the island nation of Nauru .) Although

385-945: The United States ( Hawaii and American Samoa ), as well as in the British Overseas Territory of the Pitcairn Islands . New Zealand had the highest population of Polynesians, estimated at 110,000 in the 18th century. Polynesians have acquired a reputation as great navigators, with their canoes reaching the most remote corners of the Pacific and allowing the settlement of islands as far apart as Hawaii, Rapanui (Easter Island), and Aotearoa (New Zealand). The people of Polynesia accomplished this voyaging using ancient navigation skills, including reading stars, currents, clouds, and bird movements—skills that have been passed down through successive generations to

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420-755: The Gambier Islands, Mangarevan is spoken, while in Puka Puka a Marquesan dialect is used. The majority of the population is Christian, including members of the Catholic Church and various Protestant groups. The Catholic Church administers 42 churches on the islands under the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Papeete. In 1833, the Catholic Church divided the Pacific into two apostolic vicariates : Western Oceania fell to

455-464: The Gambier Islands. This included the introduction of cotton cultivation, pearl and mother-of-pearl fishing, and the establishment of plantations and orchards. As they were very successful, their missionary activities gradually spread to the other islands of the Tuamotu archipelago. With the missionary work, news of the islands' wealth in pearls also reached Europe, making them a coveted destination for European traders and adventurers. The islands' economy

490-885: The Marists and Eastern Oceania-which included the Tuamots, Hawaii, Tahiti, the Marquesas and the Cook Islands-was the responsibility of the Picpus missionaries. In 1834, the French Fathers Honoré Laval and François d'Assise Caret arrived in Mangareva. First with the acquiescence and then with the active support of the island chiefs, the Picpusians embarked on an extensive development program for

525-564: The Polynesians are believed to be the Neolithic Lapita culture . This group emerged in Island Melanesia and Micronesia around 1500 BC from a convergence of Austronesian migration waves, originating from both Island Southeast Asia to the west and an earlier Austronesian migration to Micronesia to the north. The culture was distinguished by dentate-stamped pottery. However, their eastward expansion halted when they reached

560-569: The Polynesians arrived in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea at least 6,000 to 8,000 years ago. A 2014 study by Lipson et al., using whole genome data , supports the findings of Kayser et al. Modern Polynesians were shown to have lower levels of admixture with Australo-Melanesians than Austronesians in Island Melanesia . Nonetheless, both groups show admixture, along with other Austronesian populations outside of Taiwan, indicating varying degrees of intermarriage between

595-530: The Tuamotu Islands, a population density of 18 inhabitants /km. The population was 14,876 in 2002 and 8,100 in 1983. In 2002, 769 inhabitants lived within 400 km of the islands of Moruroa and Fangataufa (former nuclear test base). The official language of the archipelago is French . However, the Tuamotu language , Pa'umotu, is recognized as a regional language of the French Republic. In

630-618: The Tuamotus (then called the Paumotus) on the yacht Casco in 1888; an account of their journey was published as In the South Seas . Jack London wrote a story, " The Seed of McCoy ", based on an incident in 1900 in which a burning ship, the Pyrenees , had been safely beached on Mangareva . In the story, London has the ship sail past Mangareva and all through the Tuamotus before beaching on Fakarava . The Tuamotus made headlines around

665-429: The copra of French Polynesia. It is a subsidized family activity and the only resource of the atolls farthest from the center and east. Fishing is a major activity in the atolls closest to Tahiti (Rangiroa, Arutua, Apataki), which supply the central market of Papeete. Polynesians Polynesians are an ethnolinguistic group comprising closely related ethnic groups native to Polynesia , which encompasses

700-463: The first humans to cross vast distances of water on ocean-going boats. Despite the popularity of rejected hypotheses, such as Thor Heyerdahl 's belief that Polynesians are descendants of "bearded white men" who sailed on primitive rafts from South America , Polynesians are believed to have originated from a branch of the Austronesian migrations in Island Melanesia . The direct ancestors of

735-466: The genetics of modern Polynesians (as well as Islander Melanesians ) occurred after the settlement of Tonga and Vanuatu . A 2020 study found that Polynesians and the Indigenous peoples of South America came in contact around 1200, centuries before Europeans interacted with either group. There are an estimated 2 million ethnic Polynesians and many of partial Polynesian descent worldwide,

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770-567: The highest water temperatures over the largest expanse of the Earth's surface. Its intensity and extent appear to oscillate over a time period measured in decades. The Indo-Pacific warm pool has been warming rapidly and expanding during the recent decades, largely from climate change in response to increased carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning. The warm pool nearly doubled in size, from an area of 22 million km during 1900–1980, to an area of 40 million km during 1981–2018. This expansion of

805-409: The incoming Neolithic Austronesian settlers and the preexisting Paleolithic Australo-Melanesian populations of Island Southeast Asia and Melanesia . Studies from 2016 and 2017 also support the idea that the earliest Lapita settlers mostly bypassed New Guinea, coming directly from Taiwan or the northern Philippines . The intermarriage and admixture with Australo-Melanesian Papuans evident in

840-508: The islands of Rangiroa , Manihi and Mataiva , there are flat ceremonial platforms (called marae ) made of coral blocks, although their exact age is unknown. The first known European encounter with the Tuamotus was with the Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan , during his circumglobal voyage in 1521. His encounter was followed by visits from several other Europeans, including: None of these visits were of political consequence, as

875-614: The islands were within the sphere of influence of the Pōmare Dynasty of Tahiti . The first Christian missionaries arrived in the islands at the beginning of the 19th century. By the late 19th century, traders had begun offering pearls from the islands for sale in Europe, and they became coveted possessions there. France forced the abdication of King Pōmare V of Tahiti and claimed the islands, but did not formally annex them. Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Stevenson travelled among

910-1193: The islands within the Polynesian Triangle in the Pacific Ocean . They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island Southeast Asia and are part of the larger Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, with an Urheimat in Taiwan . They speak the Polynesian languages , a branch of the Oceanic subfamily within the Austronesian language family . The Indigenous Māori people form the largest Polynesian population, followed by Samoans , Native Hawaiians , Tahitians , Tongans , and Cook Islands Māori . As of 2012 , there were an estimated 2 million ethnic Polynesians (both full and part) worldwide. The vast majority either inhabit independent Polynesian nation-states ( Samoa , Niue , Cook Islands , Tonga , and Tuvalu ) or form minorities in countries such as Australia , Chile ( Easter Island ), New Zealand , France ( French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna ), and

945-595: The majority of whom live in Polynesia, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. The Polynesian peoples are listed below in their distinctive ethnic and cultural groupings, with estimates of the larger groups provided: Polynesia : Polynesian outliers : Tropical Warm Pool The Tropical Warm Pool ( TWP ) or Indo-Pacific Warm Pool is a mass of ocean water located in the western Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean which consistently exhibits

980-463: The present day. Polynesians, including Samoans , Tongans , Niueans , Cook Islands Māori , Tahitian Mā'ohi , Hawaiian Māoli , Marquesans , and New Zealand Māori , are a subset of the Austronesian peoples . They share the same origins as the indigenous peoples of Taiwan , Maritime Southeast Asia , Micronesia , and Madagascar . This is supported by genetic , linguistic and archaeological evidence. There are multiple hypotheses regarding

1015-413: The rest are occupied only sporadically, during the copra harvesting season or as a base for fishing expeditions. The population has grown in the last years due to the fishing boom in the northern part and the extraction of pearls, especially black pearls, in the west and in the center. In any case, most of the inhabitants practice subsistence agriculture. In the 2007 census, there were 15,510 inhabitants in

1050-406: The result of genetic drift and represent the descendants of a few Austronesian females who mixed with Papuan males. The Polynesian population experienced a founder effect and genetic drift due to the small number of ancestors. As a result of the founder effect, Polynesians are distinctively different both genotypically and phenotypically from the parent population, due to the establishment of

1085-402: The roofs nowadays are made of corrugated sheet-metal.There are also mangrove forests in sheltered areas, though its less common around coral atolls. The species-rich reefs are home to a diverse range of underwater fauna. The surface creatures are primarily seabirds , insects , and lizards . The Tuamotus have 86 species of birds , ten of which are endemic , including the Tuamotu kingfisher ,

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1120-460: The ultimate origin and mode of dispersal of the Austronesian peoples , but the most widely accepted theory is that modern Austronesians originated from migrations out of Taiwan between 3000 and 1000 BC. Using relatively advanced maritime innovations such as the catamaran , outrigger boats , and crab claw sails , they rapidly colonized the islands of both the Indian and Pacific oceans. They were

1155-417: The vast spread of the archipelago, it covers a total land area of only about 885 square kilometres (342 sq mi). The climate is a warm tropical one, without sharply distinct seasons. The average annual temperature is a relatively continuous 26 °C (79 °F). Water sources such as lakes or rivers are absent, leaving catchments of rain as the only source of fresh water. The annual average rainfall

1190-533: The western Polynesian islands of Fiji , Samoa , and Tonga by around 900 BC. This remained the furthest extent of the Austronesian expansion in the Pacific for approximately 1,500 years, during which the Lapita culture in these islands abruptly lost the technology of pottery-making for unknown reasons. They resumed their eastward migrations around 700 AD, spreading to the Cook Islands , French Polynesia , and

1225-497: The world in 1947, when the Norwegian ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl , sailing from South America with a crew of five others, reached Raroia on his raft Kon-Tiki . The islands were in the news again somewhat later, when France conducted nuclear weapons testing on the atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa . French Polynesia is a semi-autonomous island group designated as an overseas country of France . The Tuamotus combine with

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