Kourou in French Guiana

15 September 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Kourou beach © Arria Belli/cc-by-sa-3.0

Kourou beach © Arria Belli/cc-by-sa-3.0

Kourou is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Kourou is famous for being the location of the Guiana Space Centre, the main spaceport of France and the European Space Agency (ESA). It is an administrative district in French Guiana and the main town there. The town had a population of 24,805 inhabitants at the 2020 census.   read more…

Tahiti in the Pacific Ocean

8 March 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Marina Taina in Pape'ete © Remi Jouan/cc-by-sa-3.0

Marina Taina in Pape’ete © Remi Jouan/cc-by-sa-3.0

Tahiti (previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Australia. Divided into two parts, Tahiti Nui (bigger, northwestern part) and Tahiti Iti (smaller, southeastern part), the island was formed from volcanic activity; it is high and mountainous with surrounding coral reefs. Its population was 189,517 in 2017, making it by far the most populous island in French Polynesia and accounting for 68.7% of its total population.   read more…

Theme Week Caribbean – Saint Barthélemy

24 January 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

© Starus/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Starus/cc-by-sa-3.0

Saint Barthélemy is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. It is often abbreviated to St. Barth in French, and St. Barts in English. The island lies about 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of the Caribbean island Saint Martin, and is northeast of the Dutch islands of Saba, Sint Eustatius, and the independent country of Saint Kitts and Nevis.   read more…

Tetiꞌaroa in the Pacific

31 July 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Hotels Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Supertoff/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Supertoff/cc-by-sa-3.0

Tetiꞌaroa (French: Teti’aroa) is an atoll in the Windward group of the Society Islands of French Polynesia, an overseas territorial collectivity of France in the Pacific Ocean. Once the vacation spot for Tahitian royalty, the islets are under a 99-year lease contracted by Marlon Brando. Tetiꞌaroa is administratively part of the commune of Arue, whose main part is in the northeastern part of Tahiti. The atoll is located 53 kilometres (33 mi) north of Tahiti. The atoll has a total surface area of 6 square kilometres (2 sq mi); approximately 585 hectares (1,450 acres) of sand divided by 12 motus (islets) with varying surface areas. The lagoon is approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) wide and 30 metres (98 ft) deep. The atoll has no reef opening, making access by boat nearly impossible.   read more…

French Polynesia in the Pacific

16 November 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Tahiti - Papeete - Marina Taina © Remi Jouan/cc-by-sa-3.0

Tahiti – Papeete – Marina Taina © Remi Jouan/cc-by-sa-3.0

French Polynesia is an overseas collectivity of the French Republic; collectivité d’outre-mer de la République française (COM), sometimes unofficially referred to as an overseas country; pays d’outre-mer (POM). It is composed of 118 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over an expanse of more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) in the South Pacific Ocean.   read more…

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