French Polynesia

French Polynesia consists of five archipelagos - the Austral Islands, the Gambier Islands, the Marquesas Islands, the Society Islands, and the Tuamotu Archipelago. The Marquesas were first settled around 200 B.C. and the Society Islands around A.D. 300. Raiatea in the Society Islands became a center for religion and culture. Exploration of the other islands emanated from Raiatea and by 1000, there were small permanent settlements in all the island groups.

Ferdinand MAGELLAN was the first European to see the islands of French Polynesia in 1520, and successive European voyagers traveled through them over the next two centuries. In 1767, British explorer Samuel WALLIS was the first European to visit Tahiti, followed by French navigator Louis Antoine de BOUGAINVILLE in 1768, and British explorer James COOK in 1769. King POMARE I united Tahiti and surrounding islands into the Kingdom of Tahiti in 1788.

Protestant missionaries arrived in 1797 and POMARE I’s successor converted in the 1810s, along with most Tahitians. In the 1830s, Queen POMARE IV refused to allow French Catholic missionaries to operate, leading France to declare a protectorate over Tahiti and fight the French-Tahitian War of the 1840s in an attempt to annex the islands. POMARE IV requested British assistance to fight France, and while the UK did not provide material support, it did diplomatically pressure France to simply maintain its protectorate status.

In 1880, King POMARE V ceded Tahiti and its possessions to France, changing its status into a colony. France then claimed the Gambier Islands and Tuamotu Archipelago and by 1901 had incorporated all five island groups into its establishments in Oceania. A Tahitian nationalist movement formed in 1940, leading France to grant French citizenship to the islanders in 1946 and change it to an overseas territory. In 1957, the islands’ name was changed to French Polynesia and the following year, 64% of voters chose to stay part of France when they approved a new constitution.

Uninhabited Mururoa Atoll was established as a French nuclear test site in 1962 and tests were conducted between 1966 and 1992 (underground beginning in 1975). France also conducted tests at Fangataufa Atoll, including its last nuclear test in 1996.

France granted French Polynesia partial internal autonomy in 1977 and expanded autonomy in 1984. French Polynesia was converted into an overseas collectivity in 2003 and renamed an overseas country inside the Republic in 2004. Proindependence politicians won a surprise majority in local elections that same year but in subsequent elections have been relegated to a vocal minority. In 2013, French Polynesia was relisted on the UN List of Non-Self Governing Territories.

conventional long form:

Overseas Lands of French Polynesia

conventional short form:

French Polynesia

local long form:

Pays d'outre-mer de la Polynesie Francaise

local short form:

Polynesie Francaise

former:

Establishments in Oceania, French Establishments in Oceania

etymology:

the term "Polynesia" is an 18th-century construct composed of two Greek words, "poly" (many) and "nesoi" (islands), and refers to the more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean

description:

unicameral Assembly of French Polynesia or Assemblée de la Polynésie française (57 seats; elections held in 2 rounds; in the second round, 38 members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by a closed-list proportional representation vote; the party receiving the most votes gets an additional 19 seats; members serve 5-year terms; French Polynesia indirectly elects 2 senators to the French Senate via an electoral college by absolute majority vote for 6-year terms with one-half the membership renewed every 3 years and directly elects 3 deputies to the French National Assembly by absolute majority vote in 2 rounds if needed for 5-year terms

elections:

Assembly of French Polynesia - last held on 22 April 2018 and 6 May 2018 (next to be held in 2023); French Senate - last held on 28 September 2020 (next to be held on 30 September 2023); French National Assembly - last held in 2 rounds on 12 and 19 June 2022 (next to be held in 2027)

election results:

• Assembly of French Polynesia - percent of vote by party - Tapura Huiraatira 45.1%, Popular Rally 29.3%, Tavini Huiraatira 25.6%;
• seats by party - Tapura Huiraatira 38, Popular Rally 11, Tavini Huiraatira 8;
• composition - men 27, women 30, percent of women 52.6%

;

• French Senate - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - Popular Rally 1, People's Servant Party 1;
• composition - NA

;

• French National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - Tavini Huiraatura 3;
• composition - NA

Since 1962, when France stationed military personnel in the region, French Polynesia has changed from a subsistence agricultural economy to one in which a high proportion of the work force is either employed by the military or supports the tourist industry. With the halt of French nuclear testing in 1996, the military contribution to the economy fell sharply.

After growing at an average yearly rate of 4.2% from 1997-2007, the economic and financial crisis in 2008 marked French Polynesia’s entry into recession. However, since 2014, French Polynesia has shown signs of recovery. Business turnover reached 1.8% year-on-year in September 2016, tourism increased 1.8% in 2015, and GDP grew 2.0% in 2015.

French Polynesia’s tourism-dominated service sector accounted for 85% of total value added for the economy in 2012. Tourism employs 17% of the workforce. Pearl farming is the second biggest industry, accounting for 54% of exports in 2015; however, the output has decreased to 12.5 tons – the lowest level since 2008.

A small manufacturing sector predominantly processes commodities from French Polynesia’s primary sector - 8% of total economy in 2012 - including agriculture and fishing.

France agreed to finance infrastructure, marine businesses, and cultural and ecological sites at roughly $80 million per year between 2015 and 2020. Japan, the US, and China are French Polynesia’s three largest trade partners.

general assessment:

• French Polynesia has one of the most advanced telecoms infrastructures in the Pacific Islands region;
• the remoteness of the country with its scattering of 130 islands and atolls has made connectivity vital for its inhabitants;
• the first submarine cable was deployed in 2010 and since then additional cables have been connected to the islands, vastly improving French Polynesia’s international connectivity;
• an additional domestic submarine cable, the Natitua Sud, will connect more remote islands by the end of 2022;
• French Polynesia is also a hub for satellite communications in the region;
• a considerable number of consumers access FttP-based services;
• with the first data center in French Polynesia on the cards, the quality and price of broadband services is expected to improve as content will be able to be cached locally, reducing costs for consumers;
• for 2022, fixed broadband subscriptions reached an estimated 22%;
• about 43% of the country’s mobile connections are on 3G networks, while LTE accounts for 12%;
• by 2025, LTE is expected to account for more than half of all connections;
• it is also estimated that 77% of mobile subscribers will have smart phones by 2025 (2022)

domestic:

fixed-line subscriptions nearly 33 per 100 persons and mobile-cellular density is roughly 119 per 100 persons (2020)

international:

• country code - 689;
• landing points for the NATITUA, Manatua, and Honotua submarine cables to other French Polynesian Islands, Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and US;
• satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) (2019)

note: the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced a downturn, particularly in mobile device production;

progress toward 5G implementation has resumed, as well as upgrades to infrastructure; consumer spending on telecom services has increased due to the surge in demand for capacity and bandwidth; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home is still evident, and the spike in this area has seen growth opportunities for development of new tools and increased services