Reao
{{short description|Atoll in French Polynesia}}
{{Infobox Islands
| name = Reao
| image_name = Reao.JPG
| image_caption = NASA picture of Reao Atoll
| map = French Polynesia
| map_caption =
| native_name =
| native_name_link =
| nickname =
| location = Pacific Ocean
| coordinates = {{Coord|18|28|11|S|136|26|33|W|type:isle_region:FR-PF}}
| archipelago = Tuamotus
| total_islands =
| major_islands =
| area_km2 = 34
| area_footnotes = {{sp}}(lagoon)
{{convert|9|km2|0|abbr=on}} (above water)
| length_km = 24.5
| width_km = 5
| highest_mount =
| elevation_m =
| country = France
| country_admin_divisions_title = Overseas collectivity
| country_admin_divisions = French Polynesia
| country_admin_divisions_title_2 = Commune
| country_admin_divisions_2 = Reao
| country_admin_divisions_title_1 = Administrative subdivision
| country_admin_divisions_1 = Tuamotus
| country_capital_city =
| country_largest_city =
| country_largest_city_population =
| country_leader_title =
| country_leader_name =
| population_as_of = 2022
| ethnic_groups =
| additional_info =
}}
{{Infobox French commune
|name = Reao
|commune status = Commune
|image flag = Flag of Reao Pukaruha.svg
|caption =
|map = Localización de Reao en las Tuamotu.png
|administrative subdivision= Îles Tuamotu-Gambier
|utc offset = −10:00
|INSEE = 98742
|postal code =
|mayor =
|term =
|coordinates = {{coord|-18.4697|-136.4426|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation m = 0
|elevation min m =
|elevation max m =
|area km2 = 18
|population = 513
|population date = 2022
|website =
}}
Reao or Natūpe is an atoll in the eastern expanses of the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. The closest land is Pukarua Atoll, located 48 km to the WNW.
Reao is 24.5 km long and its maximum width is 5 km. The whole length of its north-eastern rim is occupied by a single long island. There is no navigable pass into the lagoon.
History
The first recorded European to sight Reao Atoll was French explorer Louis Isidore Duperrey in 1823. He named this atoll "Clermont Tonnerre".[http://www.scarecrowpress.com/Chapters/Index.shtml?SKU=0810853957&Site=scarecrowpress&Title=Historical%2... Sample Chapter(s) for Historical%2] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522055744/http://www.scarecrowpress.com/Chapters/Index.shtml?SKU=0810853957&Site=scarecrowpress&Title=Historical%2... |date=2011-05-22 }}
Reao was visited by the United States Exploring Expedition led by Charles Wilkes on August 13, 1839. They became the first white men to set foot on the island, but were met by a hostile group of 17 natives.{{cite book|last1=Stanton|first1=William|title=The Great United States Exploring Expedition|date=1975|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=0520025571|pages=[https://archive.org/details/greatunitedstate00will/page/116 116]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/greatunitedstate00will/page/116}} Surveying operations were only commenced after Wilkes had intimidated the opposing natives by firing light shot into their midst.{{cite thesis |url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/36030/Roberta_1962_r.pdf |title=Journal of Doctor John S. Whittle, Assistant Surgeon on the U.S. Exploring Expedition 1838-1842, Under the Command of Lt. Charles Wilkes U.S.N. |last=Roberts |first=Catherine |publisher=University of Hawaii |type=M.A. |date=1962 |access-date=19 March 2022}}
Reao Airport was inaugurated in 1979.
Flora and fauna
The lagoon of the atoll is particularly important in that it hosts large colonies of {{ill|Porites mordax|nl}} and Acropora formosa corals, as well as over 400 Tridacna maxima clams.{{cite book|last1=Dahl|first1=prepared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas; in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme; based on the work of Arthur Lyon|title=Review of the protected areas system in Oceania|date=1986|publisher=IUCN|location=Gland, Switzerland|isbn=9782880325091|page=[https://archive.org/details/reviewofprotecte0000unse/page/208 208]|edition=Sept. 1986.|url=https://archive.org/details/reviewofprotecte0000unse/page/208}}
Administration
The commune of Reao consists of Reao, as well as the atoll of Pukarua.[https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000695062 Décret n°72-407 du 17 mai 1972 portant création de communes dans le territoire de la Polynésie française], Légifrance Its total population is 513 (2022).
References
{{reflist}}
- {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223043232/http://www.oceandots.com/pacific/tuamotu/reao.php |date=December 23, 2010 |title=Tuamotu Archipelago - Reao }}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110717010011/http://www.history.navy.mil/ac/exploration/wilkes/agate_exhibit2.htm United States Exploring Expedition]
- [http://www.world-airport-codes.com/french-polynesia/reao-6230.html Reao Airport]
- [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 Historical names]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090416150900/http://www.catholiquenapuka.pf/Page/Histoire/charleswilkes.html Charles Wilkes]
External links
{{Commons category|Reao (atoll)}}
- [http://www.pacific-image.pf/pages/boutic/dboutic_cdrom_sp132.html Atoll list (in French)]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20130926093601/http://www.com.univ-mrs.fr/IRD/atollpol/irdpoly/uksalv85.htm Classification of the French Polynesian atolls by Salvat (1985)]
{{Tuamotus}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Communes of French Polynesia
Category:Atolls of the Tuamotus
{{FrenchPolynesia-geo-stub}}