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
Map references:
Oceania
Area:
total: 4,167 sq km (118 islands and atolls)
water: 507 sq km
land: 3,660 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly less than one-third the size of Connecticut
Land boundaries:
0 km
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
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: 1.64%
permanent crops: 6.01%
other: 92.35% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
NA sq km
Natural hazards:
occasional cyclonic storms in January
Environment - current issues:
NA
Geography - note:
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