French Polynesia ( POL-ih-NEE-zhə; French: Polynésie française [pɔlinezi fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ; Tahitian: Pōrīnetia farāni) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole overseas country; it is classified as a non-self-governing territory by the United Nations. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) in the South Pacific Ocean. French Polynesia is associated with the European Union as an overseas country and territory (OCT). The total land area of French Polynesia is 3,521 square kilometres (1,359 sq mi), with a population of 282,596 as of September 2025 of which at least 205,000 live in the Society Islands and the remaining population lives in the rest of the archipelago.
French Polynesia is divided into five island groups: the Austral Islands; the Gambier Islands; the Marquesas Islands; the Society Islands (comprising the Leeward and Windward Islands); and the Tuamotus. Among its 121 islands and atolls, 75 were inhabited at the 2017 census. Tahiti, which is in the Society Islands group, is the most populous island, home to nearly 69% of the population of French Polynesia as of 2017. Papeete, located on Tahiti, is the capital of French Polynesia. Although not an integral part of its territory, Clipperton Island was administered from French Polynesia until 2007.
Hundreds of years after the Great Polynesian Migration, European explorers began traveling through the region, visiting the islands of French Polynesia on several occasions. Traders and whaling ships also visited. In 1842, the French took over the islands and established a French protectorate that they called Établissements français d'Océanie (EFO; French Establishments/Settlements of Oceania).
In 1946, the EFO became an overseas territory under the constitution of the French Fourth Republic, and Polynesians were granted the right to vote through citizenship. In 1957, the territory was renamed French Polynesia. In 1983, it became a member of the Pacific Community, a regional development organization. Since 28 March 2003, French Polynesia has been an overseas collectivity of the French Republic under the constitutional revision of article 74, and later gained, with law 2004-192 of 27 February 2004, an administrative autonomy, two symbolic manifestations of which are the title of the President of French Polynesia and its additional designation as an overseas country.
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History
Anthropologists and historians believe the Great Polynesian Migration commenced around 1500 BC as Austronesian peoples went on a journey using celestial navigation to find islands in the South Pacific Ocean. The first islands of French Polynesia to be settled were the Marquesas Islands in about 200 BC. The Polynesians later ventured southwest and discovered the Society Islands around AD 300.
European encounters began in 1521 when Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, sailing at the service of the Spanish Crown, sighted Puka-Puka in the Tuāmotu-Gambier Archipelago. In 1606 another Spanish expedition under Pedro Fernandes de Queirós sailed through Polynesia sighting an inhabited island on 10 February which they called Sagitaria (or Sagittaria), probably the island of Rekareka to the southeast of Tahiti. In 1722, Dutchman Jakob Roggeveen while on an expedition sponsored by the Dutch West India Company, charted the location of six islands in the Tuamotu Archipelago and two islands in the Society Islands, one of which was Bora Bora.
British explorer Samuel Wallis became the first European navigator to visit Tahiti in 1767. French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville also visited Tahiti in 1768, while British explorer James Cook arrived in 1769, and observed the transit of Venus. He would stop in Tahiti again in 1773 during his second voyage to the Pacific, and once more in 1777 during his third and last voyage before being killed in Hawaii.
In 1772, the Spanish Viceroy of Peru Don Manuel de Amat ordered a number of expeditions to Tahiti under the command of Domingo de Bonechea who was the first European to explore all of the main islands beyond Tahiti. A short-lived Spanish settlement was created in 1774, and for a time some maps bore the name Isla de Amat after Viceroy Amat. Christian missions began with Spanish priests who stayed in Tahiti for a year. Protestants from the London Missionary Society settled permanently in Polynesia in 1797.
King Pōmare II of Tahiti was forced to flee to Mo'orea in 1803; he and his subjects were converted to Protestantism in 1812. French Catholic missionaries arrived on Tahiti in 1834; their expulsion in 1836 caused France to send a gunboat in 1838. In 1842, Tahiti and Tahuata were declared a French protectorate, to allow Catholic missionaries to work undisturbed. The capital of Papeetē was founded in 1843. In 1880, France annexed Tahiti, changing the status from that of a protectorate to that of a colony. The island groups were not officially united until the establishment of the French protectorate in 1889.
Governance
Under the terms of Article 74 of the French constitution and the Organic Law 2014–192 on the statute of autonomy of French Polynesia, politics of French Polynesia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic French overseas collectivity, whereby the President of French Polynesia is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Assembly of French Polynesia (the territorial assembly).
Political life in French Polynesia was marked by great instability from the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s. The anti-independence right-wing president of French Polynesia, Gaston Flosse, who had been in power since 1991, had supported the resumption of the French nuclear weapons tests in 1995. Furthermore, he had obtained from his longtime friend and political ally Jacques Chirac, then president of France, a status of expanded autonomy for French Polynesia in 2004. He failed to secure an absolute majority in the 2004 French Polynesian legislative election, resulting in deadlock at the Assembly of French Polynesia. Flosse's longtime opponent, the pro-independence leader Oscar Temaru, whose pro-independence coalition had won one less seat than Flosse's party in the Assembly, was elected president of French Polynesia by the Assembly in June 2004 thanks to the votes of two non-aligned Assembly members. This resulted in several years of political instability, as neither the pro- nor the anti-independence camps were assured of a majority, depending on the votes of smaller non-aligned parties representing the interests of the distant islands of French Polynesia (as opposed to Tahiti). Several constructive votes of no confidence were passed against the presidency, resulting in it shuffling between Temaru and Flosse until December 2006, when Temaru was succeeded by Gaston Tong Sang, a close ally of Flosse.
On 14 September 2007, Temaru was elected president of French Polynesia for the third time in three years (with 27 of 44 votes cast in the Assembly). He replaced anti-independence leader Gaston Tong Sang, who on 31 August had lost a no confidence vote in the Assembly, after Flosse, hitherto opposed to independence, supported Temaru to topple the Tong Sang government. Temaru, however, had no stable majority in the Assembly, and new elections were held in February 2008 in an attempt to solve the political crisis.
Tong Sang's political party, Tāhōʻēraʻa Huiraʻatira, won the territorial elections. The two minority parties of Temaru and Flosse, who together had one more member in the Assembly than did Tāhōʻēraʻa Huiraʻatira, formed an alliance to prevent Tong Sang from becoming president again. Flosse was then elected president of French Polynesia by the territorial assembly on 23 February 2008 with the support of the pro-independence party led by Temaru, while Temaru was elected speaker of the territorial assembly with the support of the anti-independence party led by Flosse. Both formed a coalition cabinet. Many observers doubted that the alliance between anti-independence Flosse and pro-independence Temaru could last very long.
Legal status
Between 1946 and 2003, French Polynesia had the status of an overseas territory (territoire d'outre-mer, or TOM). In 2003, it became an overseas collectivity (collectivité d'outre-mer, or COM). Its statutory law of 27 February 2004 gives it the particular designation of "overseas country within the Republic" (pays d'outre-mer au sein de la République, or POM), but without legal modification of its status.
Relations with mainland France
Despite having a local assembly and government, French Polynesia is not in a free association with France, like the Cook Islands with New Zealand. As a French overseas collectivity, the French central government has direct responsibility for justice, university education, defense (including the National Gendarmerie and French military forces) and foreign affairs. The local government of French Polynesia retains control over primary and secondary education, health, town planning, and the environment. The High Commissioner of the Republic in French Polynesia (French: Haut commissaire de la République en Polynésie française) represents the French state in the territory.
French Polynesia sends three deputies to the French National Assembly in three constituencies, the 1st representing Papeete and its north-eastern suburbs, plus the commune (municipality) of Mo'orea-Mai'ao, the Tuāmotu-Gambier administrative division, and the Marquesas Islands administrative division, the 2nd representing much of Tahiti outside Papeete and the Austral Islands administrative subdivision, and the 3rd representing the Leeward Islands administrative subdivision and the south-western suburbs of Papeete. French Polynesia also sends two senators to the French Senate.
The defence of the collectivity is the responsibility of the French Armed Forces. Some 900 military personnel are deployed in the territory — incorporating the Pacific-Polynesian Marine Infantry Regiment (RIMaP-P) — along with modest air transport and surveillance assets. The latter included three Falcon 200 Gardian maritime surveillance aircraft from French Naval Aviation, which as of 2025/26 are being replaced, on an interim basis, by the more advanced Falcon 50 aircraft. These aircraft will in turn be replaced by the new Falcon 2000 Albatros starting in about 2030. The former is composed of two CN-235 tactical transport aircraft drawn from the Air Force's ET 82 "Maine" transport squadron.
As of mid-2024, three principal French Navy vessels are based in the territory, including the surveillance frigate Prairial, the patrol and support ship Bougainville, and Teriieroo to Teriierooiterai, a vessel of the new Félix Éboué class of patrol vessels. In 2027 a second vessel of the Félix Éboué class, Philip Bernardino, is to be deployed in Tahiti to further reinforce France's maritime surveillance capabilities in the region. As of 2025, the coastal tug (RPC), Manini, was operational in the territory and she is eventually to be replaced and/or complemented by two RP10-class harbour tugboats.
Geography
The islands of French Polynesia make up a total land area of 3,521 square kilometres (1,359 sq mi), scattered over more than 2,000 km (1,200 miles) of ocean. There are 121 islands in French Polynesia and many more islets or motus around atolls. The highest point is Mount Orohena on Tahiti.
It is made up of five archipelagos. The largest and most populated island is Tahiti, in the Society Islands.
Aside from Tahiti, some other important atolls, islands, and island groups in French Polynesia are: Ahē, Bora Bora, Hiva ʻOa, Huahine, Maiʻao, Maupiti, Mehetiʻa, Moʻorea, Nuku Hiva, Raʻiātea, Tahaʻa, Tetiʻaroa, Tubuai and Tūpai.
French Polynesia is home to four terrestrial ecoregions: Marquesas tropical moist forests, Society Islands tropical moist forests, Tuamotu tropical moist forests, and Tubuai tropical moist forests.
Administrative divisions
French Polynesia is divided in five administrative subdivisions (subdivisions administratives):
Marquesas Islands (French: les îles Marquises or officially la subdivision administrative des îles Marquises)
Leeward Islands (French: les îles Sous-le-Vent or officially la subdivision administrative des îles Sous-le-Vent) (the two subdivisions administratives Windward Islands and Leeward Islands are part of the Society Islands)
Windward Islands (French: les îles du Vent or officially la subdivision administrative des îles du Vent) (the two subdivisions administratives Windward Islands and Leeward Islands are part of the Society Islands)
Tuāmotu-Gambier (French: les Îles Tuamotu-Gambier or officially la subdivision administrative des îles Tuamotu-Gambier) (the Tuamotus and the Gambier Islands)
Austral Islands (French: les îles Australes or officially la subdivision administrative des îles Australes) (including the Bass Islands)
The five administrative subdivisions are not local councils; they are solely deconcentrated subdivisions of the French central State. At the head of each administrative subdivision is an administrateur d'État ('State administrator'), generally simply known as administrateur, also sometimes called chef de la subdivision administrative ('head of the administrative subdivision'). The administrateur is a civil servant under the authority of the High Commissioner of the French Republic in French Polynesia in Papeete.
Four administrative subdivisions (Marquesas Islands, Leeward Islands, Tuamotu-Gambier, and Austral Islands) each also form a deconcentrated subdivision of the government of French Polynesia. These are called circonscriptions ('districts'). The head of a circonscription is the tavana hau, known as administrateur territorial in French ('territorial administrator'), but the Tahitian title tavana hau is most often used. The president of French Polynesia's government appoints the tavana hau, who directly reports to the president. The Windward Islands, due to their proximity to Papeete, do not form a deconcentrated subdivision of the government of French Polynesia.
Demographics
Total population was 278,786 according to the 18 August 2022 census, 68.7% of whom lived on the island of Tahiti alone. The urban area of Papeete, the capital city, has 136,771 inhabitants (2017 census).
At the 2017 census, 89.0% of people living in French Polynesia had been born there (up from 87.3% in 2007); 8.1% had been born in Metropolitan France (down from 9.3% in 2007); 1.2% were born elsewhere in overseas France (down from 1.4% in 2007); and 1.7% were from foreign countries (down from 2.0% in 2007). The population of natives of Metropolitan France living in French Polynesia has declined in relative terms since the 1980s, but in absolute terms their population peaked at the 2007 census, when 24,265 lived in French Polynesia (not counting their children born there). With the local economic crisis, their population declined to 22,278 at the 2012 census, and 22,387 at the 2017 census.
Notes to table
1 Persons born abroad of French parents, such as Pieds-Noirs and children of French expatriates.
2 An immigrant is by French definition a person born in a foreign country and who had no French citizenship at birth. An immigrant may have acquired French citizenship since moving to France, but is still listed as an immigrant in French statistics. On the other hand, persons born in France with foreign citizenship (the children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants.
Source: ISPF
At the 1988 census, the last census which asked questions regarding ethnicity, 66.5% of people were ethnically unmixed Polynesians, 7.1% were ethnically Polynesians with light European or East Asian mixing, 11.9% were Europeans (mostly French), 9.3% were people of mixed European and Polynesian descent, the so-called Demis (literally meaning "Half"), and 4.7% were East Asians (mainly Chinese).
Chinese, Demis, and the white populace are essentially concentrated on the island of Tahiti, particularly in the urban area of Papeete, where their share of the population is thus much greater than in French Polynesia overall. Despite a long history of ethnic mixing, ethnic tensions have been growing in recent years, with politicians using a xenophobic discourse and fanning the flame of nationalism.
Culture
Languages
All the indigenous languages of French Polynesia are Polynesian. French Polynesia has been linguistically diverse since ancient times, with each community having its own local speech variety. These dialects can be grouped into seven languages on the basis of mutual intelligibility: Tahitian, Tuamotuan, Rapa, Austral, North Marquesan, South Marquesan, and Mangarevan. Some of these, especially Tuamotuan, are really dialect continua formed by a patchwork of different dialects. The distinction between languages and dialects is notoriously difficult to establish, and so some authors may view two varieties as dialects of the same language, while others may view them as distinct languages. In this way, North and South Marquesan are often grouped together as a single Marquesan language, and Rapa is often viewed as part of Austral subfamily. At the same time, Ra'ivavae is often viewed as distinct from them.
French is the sole official language of French Polynesia. An organic law of 12 April 1996 states that "French is the official language, Tahitian and other Polynesian languages can be used". At the 2017 census, among the population whose age was 15 and older, 73.9% of people reported that the language they spoke the most at home was French (up from 68.6% at the 2007 census), 20.2% reported that the language they spoke the most at home was Tahitian (down from 24.3% at the 2007 census), 2.6% reported Marquesan and 0.2% the related Mangareva language (same percentages for both at the 2007 census), 1.2% reported any of the Austral languages (down from 1.3% at the 2007 census), 1.0% reported Tuamotuan (down from 1.5% at the 2007 census), 0.6% reported a Chinese dialect (41% of which was Hakka) (down from 1.0% at the 2007 census), and 0.4% another language (more than half of which was English) (down from 0.5% at the 2007 census).
At the same census, 95.2% of people whose age was 15 or older reported that they could speak, read and write French (up from 94.7% at the 2007 census), whereas only 1.3% reported that they had no knowledge of French (down from 2.0% at the 2007 census). 86.5% of people whose age was 15 or older reported that they had some form of knowledge of at least one Polynesian language (up from 86.4% at the 2007 census but down from 87.8% at the 2012 census), whereas 13.5% reported that they had no knowledge of any of the Polynesian languages (down from 13.6% at the 2007 census but up from 12.2% at the 2012 census).
Music
French Polynesia appeared in the world music scene in 1992, recorded by French musicologist Pascal Nabet-Meyer with the release of The Tahitian Choir's recordings of unaccompanied vocal Christian music called himene tārava. This form of singing is common in French Polynesia and the Cook Islands, and is notable for a unique drop in pitch at the end of the phrases, a characteristic formed by several different voices, accompanied by a steady grunting of staccato, nonlexical syllables.
Dance
Tahitian dance as a movement art evolved alongside Tahitian oral transmission of cultural knowledge. In fact, dance movement or gesture has significance that supported the transmission of cultural knowledge. Dance styles include 'Aparima and 'upa'upa.
However, after the London Missionary Society brought their religion to the islands, they pressured King Pōmare II (whom they had converted from traditional beliefs to their Reformed tradition) to introduce a new legal code. This code, now known as the Pōmare Code, came into effect in 1819 and banned numerous traditional practices including dancing, chants, floral costumes, tattooing and more.
Religion
Christianity is the main religion of the islands. A majority of 54% belongs to various Protestant churches, especially the Maohi Protestant Church, which is the largest and accounts for more than 50% of the population. It traces its origins to Pōmare II, the king of Tahiti, who converted from traditional beliefs to the Reformed tradition brought to the islands by the London Missionary Society.
Catholics constitute a large minority of 38.3% of the population (2019) which has its own ecclesiastical province, comprising the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Papeete and its only suffragan, the Diocese of Taiohae. The number and proportion of Catholics has increased significantly since 1950, when they represented 21.6% of the total population.
Data from 1991 revealed that Catholics were in the majority in the Tuamotu Islands, Gambier Islands and the Marquesas Islands, while Protestants formed the majority in the Austral Islands and several of the Society Islands such as Tahiti. This diversity is due to the fact that Protestant missionaries (from England and the United States) first came to one group of islands, and after French colonisation the Catholic Church spread to several more scattered islands, but also to the main island of Tahiti.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had 30,350 members as of 2025. Community of Christ, another denomination within the Latter-Day Saint tradition, claimed 9,256 total French Polynesian members as of 2018 including Mareva Arnaud Tchong who serves in the church's governing Council of Twelve Apostles. There were about 3,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in Tahiti as of 2014, and an estimated 500 Muslims in French Polynesia.
Cuisine
French Polynesia produces a significant array of fruits and vegetables as natural local produce (especially coconut), which feature in many of the dishes of the islands, as does fresh seafood.
Foods like faraoa 'ipo, poisson cru and rēti'a are commonly eaten. The islands of Tahiti and the Marquesas indulge in a unique food made by preserving breadfruit, known as ma, which either can be baked further in the earth oven, or consumed directly mixed with fresh breadfruit as popoi mei (as is in the Marquesas).
Sports
The sport of football in the island of Tahiti is run by the Fédération Tahitienne de Football.
The Polynesian traditional sport va'a is practiced in all the islands. French Polynesia hosts the Hawaiki nui va'a an international race between Tahiti, Huahine and Bora Bora.
French Polynesia is famous for its reef break waves. Teahupo'o is probably the most renowned, regularly ranked in the best waves of the world. This site hosts the annual Billabong Pro Tahiti surf competition, the 7th stop of the World Championship Tour, and hosted the surfing events of the 2024 Summer Olympics.
There are many spots to practice kitesurfing in French Polynesia, with Tahiti, Moorea, Bora-Bora, Maupiti and Raivavae being among the most iconic.
French Polynesia is internationally known for diving. Each archipelago offers opportunities for divers. Rangiroa and Fakarava in the Tuamotu islands are the most famous spots in the area.
Rugby is also popular in French Polynesia, specifically rugby union.
Television
Television channels with local programming include Polynésie la 1ère (established in 1965) and Tahiti Nui Television (established in 2000). Channels from metropolitan France are also available.
Economy and infrastructure
The legal tender of French Polynesia is the CFP franc which has a fixed exchange rate with the euro. The nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of French Polynesia in 2019 was 6.02 billion U.S. dollars at market exchange rates, the seventh-largest economy in Oceania after Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, and Guam. The GDP per capita was US$21,673 in 2019 (at market exchange rates, not at PPP), lower than in Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Guam, New Caledonia, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Cook Islands, but higher than in all other independent insular states and dependent territories of Oceania.
French Polynesia was severely affected by the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent Great Recession, and experienced as a result 4 years of recession from 2009 to 2012. French Polynesia renewed with economic growth in 2013, and experienced strong economic growth in the 2nd half of the 2010s, with an average real GDP growth rate of +2.8% per year from 2016 to 2019, before being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which has led to another recession.
French Polynesia has a moderately developed economy, which is dependent on imported goods, tourism, and the financial assistance of mainland France. Tourist facilities are well developed and are available on the major islands. Main agricultural productions are coconuts (copra), vegetables and fruits. French Polynesia exports noni juice, a high quality vanilla, and the famous black Tahitian pearls which accounted for 55% of exports (in value) in 2008.
French Polynesia's seafloor contains rich deposits of nickel, cobalt, manganese, and copper that are not exploited.
In 2008, French Polynesia's imports amounted to 2.2 billion U.S. dollars and exports amounted to 0.2 billion U.S. dollars.
Transportation
There are 53 airports in French Polynesia; 46 are paved. Fa'a'ā International Airport is the only international airport in French Polynesia. Each island has its own airport that serves flights to other islands. Air Tahiti is the main airline that flies around the islands.
Communication
In 2017, Alcatel Submarine Networks, a unit of Nokia, launched a project to connect many of the islands in French Polynesia with underwater fiber optic cable. The project, called NATITUA, is intended to improve French Polynesian broadband connectivity by linking Tahiti to 10 islands in the Tuamotu and Marquesas archipelagos. In August 2018, a celebration was held to commemorate the arrival of a submarine cable from Papeete to the atoll of Hao, extending the network by about 1000 kilometres.
Notable people
Taïna Barioz (born 1988), World Champion skier representing France
Billy Besson, Olympic sailor representing France
Michel Bourez (born 1985), professional surfer
Cheyenne Brando (1970–1995), model, daughter of Marlon Brando and Tarita Teriipaia
Jacques Brel (1929–1978), Belgian musician who lived in French Polynesia near the end of his life
Vaimalama Chaves (born 1994), Miss France 2019
Jean Gabilou (born 1944), singer; represented France in the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest
Chantal Galenon (born 1956), politician and women's rights activist
Paul Gauguin (1848–1903), French Post-Impressionist painter who spent the last years of his life in French Polynesia
Conrad Hall (1926–2003), American cinematographer
Vaitiare Hirson-Asars (born 1964), actress
Ella Koon (born 1979), singer, actress and model
Karina Lombard (born 1969), French-American model and actress
Pouvāna'a 'Ō'opa (1895–1977), politician and Tahitian nationalist
Fabrice Santoro (born 1972), professional tennis player