- Tematangi
Tematangi or Tematangui is an
atoll in the southeastern area of theTuamotu Archipelago ,French Polynesia . Tematangi's nearest neighbor isMururoa , which is located 161 km to the ESE.Tematangi is a medium-sized atoll. It measures approximately 11.5 km in length and has a maximum width of 7 km. Its reef encloses completely the deep lagoon, which is 61 km sq. There is no navigable pass to enter the lagoon.
There are many relatively large islands on Tematangi's reef, as well as a few small
motu . The main village is Tuihana. There were 53 inhabitants on Tematangi in the last census.History
The first recorded European to visit this atoll was Captain
William Bligh on the ship "Providence" on April 5, 1792. At the time of Bligh's visit, it was uninhabited. Tematangi Atoll appears in some maps as "Bligh's Lagoon Island".When
Frederick Beechey visited Tematangi in 1826 he found inhabitants there. In 1857, the captain of the "Julia", coasting along Tematangi Atoll saw armed natives follow the course of his schooner... "clad in many-coloured stuffs".Administration
Administratively Tematangi belongs to the commune of
Tureia , which includes the atolls of Tureia,Fangataufa ,Moruroa ,Tematangi andVanavana .Religious issue (for Muslims)
Tematangi is the closest land area to the
antipodes of Mecca. This means that the correct direction of Muslim prayer (qibla) varies wildly between Tematangi and its neighboring islands.References
* [http://www.oceandots.com/pacific/tuamotu/tematangi.htm]
* [http://library.puc.edu/pitcairn/bounty/encyclopedia.shtml Captain Bligh]
* [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-BeaBlig-t1-body1.html History] & [http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/s/stevenson/robert_louis/s848so/sseas19.html]
* [http://192.231.59.40/flinders/maps/3.html]External links
* [http://www.pacific-image.pf/pages/boutic/dboutic_cdrom_sp132.html Atoll list (in French)]
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