Napuka

Atoll in French Polynesia

14°10′12″S 141°13′52″W / 14.17000°S 141.23111°W / -14.17000; -141.23111ArchipelagoTuamotusArea18 km² (6.9 sq mi) (lagoon)
8 km² (3 sq mi) (above water)Length10.5 km (6.52 mi)Width4 km (2.5 mi)Administration

France

Overseas collectivityFrench PolynesiaAdministrative subdivisionÎles Tuamotu-GambierCommuneNapukaLargest settlementTepukamaruiaDemographicsPopulation255^[1] (2022)

Commune in French Polynesia, France

Location of Napuka

Coordinates: 14°10′12″S 141°13′52″W / 14.17011°S 141.23106°W / -14.17011; -141.23106CountryFranceOverseas collectivityFrench PolynesiaSubdivisionÎles Tuamotu-GambierArea

1 km² (0.4 sq mi)Population

(2022)^[1]

307 • Density310/km² (800/sq mi)Time zoneUTC−10:00INSEE/Postal code

98730 /

Elevation0 m (0 ft)¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Napuka, or Pukaroa, is a small coral atoll in the Disappointment Islands, in the northeastern part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. It is located only 15 km to the southeast of Tepoto Nord, its nearest neighbor, forming a small group. These two atolls are quite isolated, the nearest land being Fangatau Atoll 170 km to the south.

Napuka Atoll is 10.5 km long and about 4 km wide. Its reef is quite broad, completely enclosing the lagoon. The total dry land area of the thirty islands on Napuka's reef is 8 km². The surface of the lagoon is 18 km².

Napuka has 255 inhabitants according to the 2022 census.^[1] The main village is Tepukamaruia (Te Puka Maru Ia).

History

The first recorded European to reach Napuka Atoll was the British explorer John Byron, in 1765. He named Napuka and Tepoto "Disappointment Islands" because he found the natives to be of a hostile disposition toward him.

Napuka was visited by the historic United States Exploring Expedition, on 23 Aug. 1839.^[2] This atoll was probably the one that Charles Wilkes called "Wytoohee" or "Wutoohee".

The airport on Napuka opened in 1977.

Administration

The commune of Napuka consists of the atolls of Napuka and Tepoto Nord.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Les résultats du recensement de la population 2022 de Polynésie française" [Results of the 2022 population census of French Polynesia] (PDF) (in French). Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française. January 2023.
^ Stanton, William (1975). The Great United States Exploring Expedition. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 119. ISBN 0520025571.
^ Décret n°72-407 du 17 mai 1972 portant création de communes dans le territoire de la Polynésie française, Légifrance