Akiaki

Atoll in French Polynesia

18°33′S 139°13′W / 18.550°S 139.217°W / -18.550; -139.217ArchipelagoTuamotusArea1.3 km² (0.50 sq mi)Length2 km (1.2 mi)Width0.9 km (0.56 mi)Administration

France

Overseas collectivityFrench PolynesiaAdministrative subdivisionÎles Tuamotu-GambierCommuneNukutavakeDemographicsPopulation13^[1] (2020)

Akiaki^[2] is a low coral atoll in the eastern area of the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia. Akiaki's nearest neighbor is Vahitahi, which is located 41 km to the southeast.

Akiaki is a small atoll rising barely above sea level. The total land surface is only 1.3 km². Its reef is occupied by a single flat island covered with coconut trees and other vegetation. There is no lagoon and it has only a difficult landing located on its northwestern side.

Akiaki is barely inhabited with a rough total of 13 residents, its occasionally visited by tourists for its coconut plantations. Akiaki maintains a small fishing port used by the residents as their source of revenue.

History

The first recorded European that arrived to Akiaki Atoll was Louis Antoine de Bougainville on 22 March 1768.^[3] He called this atoll Ile des Lanciers. James Cook reached Akiaki the following year, during his first voyage, and named it Thrum Island.

Geology

Akiaki lies on top of a small seamount which is part of the Tuamotu Seamount Trail on the Pacific Plate. Akiaki's seamount is 3420 m high.

Administration

Administratively Akiaki Atoll belongs to the commune of Nukutavake, which includes Nukutavake, as well as the atolls of Vahitahi, Vairaatea, Pinaki and Akiaki.

References

^ "Population". Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
^ Young, J.L. (1899). "Names of the Paumotu Islands, with the old names so far as they are known". Journal of the Polynesian Society. 8 (4): 264–268. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
^ Salmond, Anne (2010). Aphrodite's Island. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 93. ISBN 9780520261143.