Fakarava


Fakarava, Havaiki-te-araro, Havai'i or Farea is an atoll in the west of the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. It is the second largest of the Tuamotu atolls. The nearest land is Toau Atoll, which lies to the northwest.
The shape of Fakarava Atoll is roughly rectangular and its length is and its width. Fakarava has a wide and deep lagoon with a surface of and two passes. The main pass to enter the lagoon, located in its north-western end, is known as Passe Garuae and it is the largest pass in French Polynesia; the southern pass is called Tumakohua. It has a land area of.
Fakarava has 837 inhabitants; the main village is called Rotoava.

History

The Pōmare Dynasty originated here before ruling the island of Tahiti.
The first recorded European to arrive at Fakarava Atoll was Russian explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen on July 17, 1820, on ships Vostok and Mirni. He named this atoll "Wittgenstein".
Fakarava's inhabitants were evangelized by French Picpus priest Honoré Laval in 1849. The church at Rotoava was dedicated in 1850.
There is a territorial airfield in Fakarava which was inaugurated in 1995.
Fakarava is being classified by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve.

In Literature

*
James Norman Hall describes his visit to Fakarava, and the prior visit of Captain Bligh to the atoll, in "The Tale of a Shipwreck," published 1934.