_#_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
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral Territorial Assembly
_#_Judicial branch: Court of Appeal
_#_Leaders:
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.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.3% (1989 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: 8% (1986 est.)
_#_Budget: revenues $614 million; expenditures $957 million, including
capital expenditures of $NA (1988)
_#_Exports: $75 million (f.o.b., 1988);
commodities--coconut products 79%, mother-of-pearl 14%, vanilla,
shark meat;
partners--France 54%, US 17%, Japan 17%
_#_Imports: $806 million (c.i.f., 1988);
commodities--fuels, foodstuffs, equipment;
partners--France 53%, US 11%, Australia 6%, NZ 5%
_#_External debt: $NA
_#_Industrial production: growth rate NA%
_#_Electricity: 72,000 kW capacity; 265 million kWh produced,
1,390 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: tourism, pearls, agricultural processing, handicrafts
_#_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
_#_Note: defense is responsibility of France
_%_
_@_French Southern and Antarctic Lands
(overseas territory of France)
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 7,781 km2; land area: 7,781 km2; includes Ile
Amsterdam, Ile Saint-Paul, Iles Kerguelen, and Iles Crozet;
excludes Terre Adelie claim of about 500,000 km2 in Antarctica
that is not recognized by the US
_#_Comparative area: slightly less than 1.5 times the size of Delaware
_#_Land boundaries: none
_#_Coastline: 1,232 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm (Iles Kerguelen only);