| Location: |
Oceania, archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from South America to Australia
|
| Geographic coordinates: |
15 00 S, 140 00 W
|
| Area: |
total:
4,167 sq km (118 islands and atolls)
land:
3,660 sq km
water:
507 sq km
|
| Area - comparative: |
slightly less than one-third the size of Connecticut
|
| Maritime claims: |
exclusive economic zone:
200 NM
territorial sea:
12 NM
|
| Climate: |
tropical, but moderate
|
| Terrain: |
mixture of rugged high islands and low islands with reefs
|
| Elevation extremes: |
lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point:
Mont Orohena 2,241 m
|
| Natural resources: |
timber, fish, cobalt, hydropower
|
| Land use: |
arable land:
1%
permanent crops:
6%
permanent pastures:
5%
forests and woodland:
31%
other:
57% (1993 est.)
|
| Natural hazards: |
occasional cyclonic storms in January
|
| Environment - current issues: |
NA
|
| Geography - note: |
includes five archipelagoes; Makatea in French Polynesia is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean - the others are Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and Nauru
|
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