French Polynesia is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) in the South Pacific Ocean. The total land area of French Polynesia is 3,521 square kilometres (1,359 sq mi), with a population of 278,786 (Aug. 2022 census) 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.[5] Tahiti, which is in the Society Islands group, is the most populous island, being 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.
Face value | Family number | English name | Scientific name
1980.01
20.10.1980
Birds
25f
52
White Tern Gygis alba
35f
108
Blue Lorikeet Vini peruviana
45f
65
Great Frigatebird Fregata minor
1981.01
24.09.1981
Birds
47f
52
Greater Crested Tern Thalasseus bergii
53f
27
Grey-green Fruit Dove Ptilinopus purpuratus
65f
234
Common Waxbill Estrilda astrild
1982.01
17.11.1982
Birds
37f
70
Pacific Reef Heron Egretta sacra
39f
43
Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva
42f
234
Chestnut-breasted Mannikin Lonchura castaneothorax
1985.01
18.09.1985
International youth year
250f
66
Masked Booby Sula dactylatra
1990.01
05.06.1990
Birds
13f
30
Spotless Crake Zapornia tabuensis
20f
108
Ultramarine Lorikeet Vini ultramarina
1991.01
05.06.1991
Protected birds
17f
90
Niau Kingfisher Todiramphus gertrudae
21f
108
Kuhl's Lorikeet Vini kuhlii
1993.01
14.08.1993
Taipei 93
46f
13
Red Junglefowl Gallus gallus
1995.01
07.06.1995
Unique birds of the world
22f
27
Rapa Fruit Dove Ptilinopus huttoni
44f
27
Nuku Hiva Imperial Pigeon Ducula galeata
1996.01
12.06.1996
Marine birds of Polynesia
66f
66
Red-footed Booby Sula sula
79f
65
Great Frigatebird Fregata minor
84f
52
Brown Noddy Anous stolidus
2006.01
21.06.2006
Birds of Polynesia
250f
49
Tuamotu Sandpiper Prosobonia parvirostris
250f
27
Polynesian Ground Dove Pampusana erythroptera
2010.01
15.09.2010
Birds of Polynesia
Booklet, sa
100f
108
Kuhl's Lorikeet Vini kuhlii
100f
49
Sanderling Calidris alba
100f
52
White Tern Gygis alba
100f
108
Blue Lorikeet Vini peruviana
100f
27
Polynesian Imperial Pigeon Ducula aurorae
100f
256
Crimson-backed Tanager Ramphocelus dimidiatus
100f
49
Wandering Tattler Tringa incana
100f
90
Niau Kingfisher Todiramphus gertrudae
100f
27
Rapa Fruit Dove Ptilinopus huttoni
100f
52
Greater Crested Tern Thalasseus bergii
100f
66
Brown Booby Sula leucogaster
100f
43
Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva
2010.02
04.11.2010
Oceania, stamp on stamp
3v set
Fr Oc Set 1948
70f
61
Snowy Albatross Diomedea exulans
140f
61
Snowy Albatross Diomedea exulans
2011.01
27.09.2011
Moana
12v booklet, sa
100f
66
Brown Booby Sula leucogaster
and
66
Masked Booby Sula dactylatra
100f
52
Sooty Tern Onychoprion fuscatus
2013.01
26.04.2013
Fauna and flora
3v set
190f
234
Chestnut-breasted Mannikin Lonchura castaneothorax
2013.02
26.04.2013
Fauna and flora
3v sheet
2013.01
190f
234
Chestnut-breasted Mannikin Lonchura castaneothorax
2016.01
09.12.2016
Birds
80f
70
Little Heron Butorides atricapilla
100f
199
Southern Marquesan Reed Warbler Acrocephalus mendanae
2016.02
09.12.2016
Birds
Sheet
2016.01
80f
70
Little Heron Butorides atricapilla
100f
199
Southern Marquesan Reed Warbler Acrocephalus mendanae
2017.01
27.01.2017
Year of the Rooster
140f
13
Red Junglefowl Gallus gallus
2019.01
25.01.2019
Endangered species
10f
63
Tahiti Petrel Pseudobulweria rostrata
80f
165
Tahiti Monarch Pomarea nigra
2021.01
01.09.2021
New coins
6v booklet, sa
100f
57
White-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon lepturus
100f
57
White-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon lepturus
=1
100f
57
White-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon lepturus
=1
100f
57
White-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon lepturus
=1
100f
57
White-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon lepturus
=1
100f
57
White-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon lepturus
=1
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