French Polynesia

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Lore & Background

Hundreds of years after the Great Polynesian Migration, European explorers began traveling through the region. In 1842, the French took over the islands and established a French protectorate called Établissements français d'Océanie. In 1946, the EFO became an overseas territory under the constitution of the French Fourth Republic, and Polynesians were granted the right to vote through citizenship. In 1957, the territory was renamed French Polynesia. Since 28 March 2003, French Polynesia has been an overseas collectivity of the French Republic, and later gained, with law 2004-192 of 27 February 2004, an administrative autonomy, two symbolic manifestations of which are the title of the President of French Polynesia and its additional designation as an overseas country. In 1983, it became a member of the Pacific Community.

Reader's Guide

French Polynesia's significance includes its classification as a non-self-governing territory by the United Nations, making it eligible for a UN-backed independence referendum. It was relisted in the UN list in 2013 after indigenous opposition was voiced and supported by the Polynesian Leaders Group, Pacific Conference of Churches, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Non-Aligned Movement, World Council of Churches, and Melanesian Spearhead Group. Its history includes early European encounters: Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sighted Puka-Puka in 1521; British explorer Samuel Wallis visited Tahiti in 1767; French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville visited in 1768; and British explorer James Cook arrived in 1769. France's early nuclear testing ground in Algeria became unusable when Algeria became independent, and the Moruroa atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago was selected as the new testing site in 1962. Nuclear tests were conducted underground after 1974. The last test was on 27 January 1996 at Fangataufa atoll. French Polynesia is associated with the European Union as an overseas country and territory.

Did You Know?

• French Polynesia comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls, of which 75 were inhabited at the 2017 census.
• The first islands of French Polynesia to be settled were the Marquesas Islands in about 200 BC.
• In 1842, Tahiti and Tahuata were declared a French protectorate to allow Catholic missionaries to work undisturbed.
• French Polynesia was relisted in the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories in 2013, making it eligible for a UN-backed independence referendum.
• The last French nuclear test in French Polynesia was on 27 January 1996 at Fangataufa atoll.

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