FRENCH POLYNESIA
(overseas territory of France)
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 3,941 km2; land area: 3,660 km2
Comparative area: slightly less than one-third the size of
Connecticut
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 2,525 km
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
Natural resources: timber, fish, cobalt
Land use: arable land 1%; permanent crops 19%; meadows and
pastures 5%; forest and woodland 31%; other 44%
Environment: occasional cyclonic storm in January; includes five
archipelagoes
Note: 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
PEOPLE
Population: 195,046 (July 1991), growth rate 2.5% (1991)
Birth rate: 31 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 22 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 66 years male, 71 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 3.9 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--French Polynesian(s); adjective--French
Polynesian
Ethnic divisions: Polynesian 78%, Chinese 12%, local French 6%,
metropolitan French 4%
Religion: mainly Christian; Protestant 54%, Roman Catholic 30%,
other 16%
Language: French (official), Tahitian
Literacy: 98% (male 98%, female 98%) age 14 and over but definition
of literacy not available (1977)
Labor force: 76,630 employed (1988)
Organized labor: NA
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Territory of French Polynesia
Type: overseas territory of France since 1946
Capital: Papeete
Administrative divisions: none (overseas territory of France);
there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US
Government, but there are 5 archipelagic divisions named
Archipel des Marquises, Archipel des Tuamotu, Archipel des Tubuai, Iles
du Vent, and Iles Sous-le-Vent; note--Clipperton Island is administered
from French Polynesia and may have become a dependency of French
Polynesia
Independence: none (overseas territory of France)
Constitution: 28 September 1958 (French Constitution)
Legal system: based on French system
National holiday: Taking of the Bastille, 14 July (1789)
Executive branch: French president, high commissioner of the
republic, president of the Council of Ministers, vice president of the
Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers
Chief of State--President Francois MITTERRAND (since
21 May 1981); High Commissioner of the Republic Jean MONTPEZAT
(since NA November 1987);
Head of Government--President of the Council of Ministers
Gaston FLOSSE (since 10 May 1991);
Vice President of the Council of Ministers NA
Political parties and leaders:
People's Rally (Tahoeraa Huiraatira; Gaullist), Gaston FLOSSE;
Polynesian Union Party (Te Tiarama; centrist), Alexandre LEONTIEFF;
New Fatherland Party (Ai'a Api), Emile VERNAUDON;
Polynesian Liberation Front (Tavini Huiraatira), Oscar TEMARU;
other small parties
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
Territorial Assembly--last held 17 March 1991 (next to be held
March 1996); results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(41 total) People's Rally (Gaullist) 18, Polynesian Union Party
14, New Fatherland Party 5, other 4;
French Senate--last held 24 September 1989 (next to be held
September 1992); results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(1 total) party NA;
French National Assembly last held 5 and 12 June 1988 (next to be
held June 1993); results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(2 total) People's Rally (Gaullist) 1, New Fatherland Party 1
Member of: FZ, SPC, WMO
Diplomatic representation: as an overseas territory of France,
French Polynesian interests are represented in the US by France
Flag: the flag of France is used
ECONOMY
Overview: Since 1962, when France stationed military personnel in
the region, French Polynesia has changed from a subsistence economy to
one in which a high proportion of the work force is either employed by
the military or supports the tourist industry. Tourism accounts for about
20% of GDP and is a primary source of hard currency earnings.
GDP: $1.2 billion, per capita $6,300; real growth rate NA% (1990
est.)
Agriculture: coconut and vanilla plantations; vegetables and fruit;
poultry, beef, dairy products
Economic aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral
commitments (1970-88), $3.95 billion
Currency: Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique franc (plural--francs);
1 CFP franc (CFPF) = 100 centimes
Exchange rates: Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique francs (CFPF) per
US$1--93.28 (January 1991), 99.00 (1990), 115.99 (1989), 108.30 (1988),
109.27 (1987), 125.92 (1986), 163.35 (1985); note--linked at the rate of
18.18 to the French franc
Fiscal year: calendar year
COMMUNICATIONS
Highways: 600 km (1982)
Ports: Papeete, Bora-bora
Merchant marine: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,128
GRT/6,710 DWT; includes 1 passenger-cargo, 1 cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo;
note--a captive subset of the French register
Civil air: about 6 major transport aircraft
Airports: 43 total, 41 usable; 23 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 12 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: 33,200 telephones; 84,000 radio receivers;
26,400 TV sets; stations--5 AM, 2 FM, 6 TV; 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT
earth station
DEFENSE FORCES
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 50,844; NA fit for military
service
