When
one sees how big this chain of islands
actually is it might be wonder that they
were ever discovered at all. If they are
added all together they come to about
4200 square kilometres, which is a lot
less space than many major cities. Add
to this the fact that they are scattered
over 2.5 million square kilometres of
ocean, and one begins to get an idea of
exactly how tiny these islands are. They
lie in the South Pacific 6000 kilometres
from Los Angeles and 4000 kilometres from
Hawaii, so getting there can be a long
voyage, even by plane.
The largest island in French Polynesia
is Tahiti. Most people known Tahiti from
posters in travel agents windows, and
it is known across the world as paradise
on earth. French Polynesia is a “French
Overseas Country”, which is sort
of what and ex-colonial power calls a
colony. French Polynesia is self-governing
but relies on France for a lot of things,
including its currency.
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All images are for sale.
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Click
on BUY to purchase the posters, or ENLARGE it to help you make
up your mind.
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While
it is fun to go to paradise, the problem
is everyone wants to go. The wildernesses
of French Polynesia, never very big to
begin with, are shrinking. The native
culture is a lot like Hawaii now, lost
under a flood of tourism. If that wasn’t
enough the French Government uses the
area to test nuclear weapons. This is
not only very stupid and very destructive
but is against international law…
but then again, they have nuclear weapons.
French Polynesia exists because of a geographical
feature known as an “atoll”.
While above the water line the islands
are small, they are actually the tops
of fantastically large and (hopefully)
extinct volcanoes. Underwater eruptions
pushed cooling magma all the way to the
surface to create a truly amazing chain
of islands.
French
Polynesia Travel Links |
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