Tuamotu Archipelago

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Two parallel ranges of 78 atolls, part of French Polynesia; area 690 sq km/266 sq mi; population (1996) 15,370, including the Gambier Islands to the east. The atolls stretch 2,100 km/1,300 mi north and east of the Society Islands. The administrative headquarters is Apataki. This archipelago is made up of the largest group of coral atolls in the world. The largest atoll is Rangiroa, the most significant is Hao; they produce pearl shell and copra. Spanish explorers landed 1606, and the islands were annexed by France in 1881. France conducted nuclear test explosions at the Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls between 1966 and 1996 (46 above ground and 147 below).

The French nuclear testing tests left particles of plutonium scattered over Mururoan islets, and traces of plutonium in the sediments of lagoons at the atolls. Radioactive tritium was found in 1998 leaking into the lagoons from cavities left by underground explosions.

Blue stands for the Pacific Ocean and water on which life depends. Yellow symbolizes the sun. Green represents the lush vegetation. Effective date: 18 November 1977. >>