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flag French Polynesia History French Polynesia

 
 

Area : 621  sq.mi

Population : 265000 hab.

In brief

Visa :
No
Vaccinations :
No
Currency :
Franc Pacifique
Capitale :
Taiohae
Languages :
French, tahitian, English

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History

 historyDates

1607: Part of the archipelago discovered by Pedro Fernandez Quiros
1767: "Rediscovered" by Samuel Wallis and named King George's Island
1768: Louis de Bougainville arrives and claims the islands for France, naming the archipelago La Nouvelle Cythere
1769: The English sailor and explorer James Cook arrives at Tahiti on his first of three voyages
1815: Pomaré II, King of Tahiti, accepts Protestantism
1842: Pomaré IV signs a convention with Admiral Dupetit-Thouars, establishing a French protectorate and guaranteeing full religious liberty in Tahiti
1880: King Pomaré proclaims Tahiti an integral part of the French Republic 1903: The various groups of French islands in Oceania, exclusive of New Caledonia and its dependencies, were united in one homogeneous colonial establishment
1995: France stirred up widespread protests by carrying out nuclear tests on the Mururoa atoll, they were suspended in January 1996
2004: The islands become a full 'département d'outre mer' (overseas territory) of France