Arutua

Arutua
Arutua
Commune
	Location (in red) within the Tuamotu Archipelago
	Location of Arutua
	Coordinates: 15°14′43″S 146°36′44″W / 15.245236°S 146.612086°W
Country	France
Overseas collectivity	French Polynesia
Subdivision	Îles Tuamotu-Gambier
Area 1	46.0 km2 (17.8 sq mi)
Population (2022)	1,736
• Density	38/km2 (98/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−10:00
INSEE/Postal code	98713 /
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Arutua
	NASA picture of Arutua Atoll
	Arutua
Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	15°14′43″S 146°36′43″W / 15.24528°S 146.61194°W
Archipelago	Tuamotus
Area	484 km2 (187 sq mi) (lagoon); 15 km2 (6 sq mi) (above water)
Length	31 km (19.3 mi)
Width	24 km (14.9 mi)
Administration
	France
Overseas collectivity	French Polynesia
Administrative subdivision	Îles Tuamotu-Gambier
Commune	Arutua
Largest settlement	Rautini
Demographics
Population	826 (2022)

Arutua, or Ngaru-atua^[2] is an atoll in the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. It is located 40 km SW of Rangiroa. The closest land is Apataki Atoll, only 16 km to the East.

Arutua Atoll has a roughly pentagonal shape. Length 31 km (19 mi) , width 24 km (15 mi) . The lagoon area is 484 km² (187 sq mi) and the land area is 15 km² (6 sq mi). Its lagoon is wide and deep with one navigable passage. As of 2012^[update], Arutua had a population of 680 inhabitants. The main village is Rautini. There is a small airport at Arutua which was opened in 1984.

Geographically Arutua belongs to the Palliser Islands (Îles Palliser) subgroup of the Tuamotus.

History

The first recorded European to visit Arutua Atoll was Jakob Roggeveen (who also first sighted Easter Island) in 1722. British mariner Frederick Beechey touched at Arutua in 1826. He named this atoll "Cockburn Island".

Administration

This atoll is part of the commune of Arutua, which consists of Arutua, as well as the atolls of Apataki and Kaukura.^[3] The seat of the commune is the village Rautini.^[3] The commune is in the administrative subdivision of the Îles Tuamotu-Gambier.^[4]

Demographics

Island	Population (2017 census)^[5]	Area (km²)^[6]	Area of lagoon (km²)
Apataki	442	20.0	706
Arutua	808	15.0	484
Kaukura	414	11.0	434
TOTAL	1664	46.0	1624

Table 1. Current population.

Island	2007	2012	2017
Apataki	495	350	442
Arutua	725	680	808
Kaukura	541	475	414
TOTAL	1761	1505	1664

Table 2. Population over time.

Images and maps

Image Source: Landsat S-06-15_2008
Map Source: EVS Precision Map (1:170,000)

References

^ ^a ^b "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.
^ Young, J.L. (1899). "Names of the Paumotu Islands, with the old names so far as they are known". Journal of the Polynesian Society. 8 (4): 264–268. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
^ ^a ^b Décret n°72-407 du 17 mai 1972 portant création de communes dans le territoire de la Polynésie française, Légifrance
^ Décret n° 2005-1611 du 20 décembre 2005 pris pour l'application du statut d'autonomie de la Polynésie française, Légifrance
^ Répartition de la population en Polynésie française en 2017 Archived 2018-10-24 at the Wayback Machine, Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française
^ "R1- Population sans doubles comptes, des subdivisions, communes et communes associées de Polynésie française, de 1971 à 1996". Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française. Archived from the original on 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2019-03-14.

External links

Arutua Atoll FP (EVS Islands)
Shuttle Image ISS014-E-5393 (Astronaut Photography)
Arutua Atoll FP (Oceandots.com) at the Wayback Machine (archived December 23, 2010)
Tuamotu Atolls List (Pacific Image)

This French Polynesia-related geography article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[pop2022-1] "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.

[Alternative_Names-2] Young, J.L. (1899). "Names of the Paumotu Islands, with the old names so far as they are known". Journal of the Polynesian Society. 8 (4): 264–268. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2015.

[#72-407-3] Décret n°72-407 du 17 mai 1972 portant création de communes dans le territoire de la Polynésie française, Légifrance

[#2005-1611-4] Décret n° 2005-1611 du 20 décembre 2005 pris pour l'application du statut d'autonomie de la Polynésie française, Légifrance

[pop2017-5] Répartition de la population en Polynésie française en 2017 Archived 2018-10-24 at the Wayback Machine, Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française

[area-6] "R1- Population sans doubles comptes, des subdivisions, communes et communes associées de Polynésie française, de 1971 à 1996". Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française. Archived from the original on 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2019-03-14.

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