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Location:
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Oceania, archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from South America to Australia
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Geographic coordinates:
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15 00 S, 140 00 W
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Map references:
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oceania
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Area:
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total: 4,167 sq km (118 islands and atolls)
water: 507 sq km
land: 3,660 sq km
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Area - comparative:
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slightly less than one-third the size of Connecticut
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Land boundaries:
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0 km
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Coastline:
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2,525 km
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Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
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Climate:
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tropical, but moderate
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Terrain:
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mixture of rugged high islands and low islands with reefs
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mont Orohena 2,241 m
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Natural resources:
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timber, fish, cobalt, hydropower
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Land use:
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arable land: 0.82%
permanent crops: 5.46%
other: 93.72% (2001)
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Irrigated land:
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NA sq km
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Natural hazards:
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occasional cyclonic storms in January
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Environment - current issues:
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NA
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Geography - note:
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includes five archipelagoes (4 volcanic, 1 coral); 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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