Maria Est

{{Short description|Atoll in French Polynesia}}

{{About|Maria Atoll in the Gambier Islands (French Polynesia)|the island in the Austral Islands (French Polynesia)|Îles Maria}}

{{Infobox Islands

| name = Maria Est

| image_name = Maria Est.jpg

| image_caption = NASA picture of Maria Est Atoll

| map = French Polynesia

| map_caption =

| native_name =

| native_name_link =

| nickname =

| location = Pacific Ocean

| coordinates = {{coord|22|01|S|136|11|W|type:isle_region:FR-PF|display=inline,title}}

| archipelago = Tuamotus

| total_islands =

| major_islands =

| area_km2 = 7

| area_footnotes = {{sp}}(lagoon)
{{convert|3.75|km2|0|abbr=on}} (above water)

| length_km = 5.6

| width_km = 2.9

| highest_mount =

| elevation_m =

| country = France

| country_admin_divisions_title = Overseas collectivity

| country_admin_divisions = French Polynesia

| country_admin_divisions_title_1 = Administrative subdivision

| country_admin_divisions_1 = Îles Tuamotu-Gambier

| country_admin_divisions_title_2 = Commune

| country_admin_divisions_2 = Gambier

| country_capital_city =

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| population = Uninhabited{{cite web|title=Population|url=http://www.ispf.pf/bases/Recensements/2012/Donnees_detaillees.aspx|website=Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française|accessdate=6 October 2014}}

| population_as_of = 2012

| ethnic_groups =

| additional_info =

}}

Maria Atoll{{cite journal|last1=Young|first1=J.L.|title=Names of the Paumotu Islands, with the old names so far as they are known.|journal=Journal of the Polynesian Society|date=1899|volume=8|issue=4|pages=264–268|url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_8_1899/Volume_8,_No._4,_December_1899/Names_of_the_Paumotu_Islands,_by_J.L._Young,_p_264-268?action=null|accessdate=7 January 2015}} is an uninhabited small atoll of the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. It is located in the far southeast of the archipelago, about {{convert|72|km|0|abbr=on}} southwest from Marutea Sud. Maria's closest neighbour is the small atoll of Matureivavao of the Acteon Group, {{convert|56|km|0|abbr=on}} to the northwest.

Maria Atoll is oval in shape and bound by a continuous reef. It is 5.6 km long and 2.9 km wide. Its islands are low and flat and the lagoon is hypersaline.

This atoll is mostly called "Maria Est" in order to avoid confusion with another small atoll called Maria (Nororotu) in the Tubuai (Austral Islands) division of French Polynesia.

History

The first recorded European who arrived at Maria Est was {{ill|Jacques-Antoine Moerenhout|fr}} in 1829. On some maps, Maria Atoll appeared as "Moerenhout Island".

Administration

Administratively, Maria Est belongs to the commune of the Gambier Islands.

References

{{reflist}}

  • {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20101223015139/http://www.oceandots.com/pacific/tuamotu/maria.php Oceandots]}}
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20070520040828/http://jacbayle.club.fr/livres/Errances/Moerenhout.html Moerenhout, Jacques-Antoine. Voyages aux iles du grand Ocean]
  • [http://www.earthref.org/cgi-bin/sc.cgi?id=SMNT-220S-1362W Tuamotu Seamount Trail]