The landing of the Natitua submarine cable and its commissioning in December 2018 allows Fakareva to be connected to Tahiti and to global high-speed Internet. On average, it receives about 850 flights and between 25,000 and 30,000 Passengers per year, of which 20% are in transit, making it one of the busiest in French Polynesia. The atoll has an airfield with a runway 1,400 meters long, which allows the development of tourism in all the atolls attached to the commune of Fakarava. This is also one of the only reefs where sharks are fully protected and can be found in anything like their historical numbers.įakarava is developing a pearl farming activity – authorized on 400 ha (and fifty spat collection lines) in the northeastern part of the lagoon, near Rotoava – and sea cucumber fishing in the eastern part of the lagoon for export to Asia. The south pass of Fakarava has been protected since 2008 and is now home to the highest concentration of Grey reef sharks in the world with an estimated 700 sharks comprising the single school that inhabits the area.

Like all the other islands in the archipelago, Fakarava has some of the most pristine and undisturbed coral reef ecosystems in the world. The church, as its name indicates, is dedicated to a Spanish mystic saint who founded the Order of the Discalced Carmelites ( Ordo Fratrum Discalceatorum Beatissimae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo). The Catholic Church administers a religious building in Rotoava, the Church of Saint John of the Cross ( Église de Saint-Jean-de-la-Croix) that depends on the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Papeete with headquarters in Tahiti.

The majority of the Atoll's population is Christian as a result of missionary activity by both Catholic and Protestant groups. It is accessible through two passes:Ĭhurch of Saint John of the Cross (Église de Saint-Jean-de-la-Croix) Its lagoon is the second largest in French Polynesia (after Rangiroa) and covers 1,121 km 2. Location įakarava is located 450 km northeast of Tahiti. The total population was 806 at the 2012 census. In the southern pass is the village of Tetamanu, former capital of the island and residence of the administrator of the Tuamotu during the 19th century. The main village is Rotoava, located to the northeast near the Garuae Passage. It is an important center of sport diving. It is very rich in marine fauna, with rays, manta rays, barracudas, groupers, turtles and dolphins. The northern passage of Garuae is the largest in French Polynesia. The atoll has two inland passes, one in the north and one in the south. It is the second largest atoll in the Tuamotu, after Rangiroa, with an area of 24.1 km 2 and a lagoon of 1,121 km 2. Geography įakarava is a rectangular atoll 60 km long and 25 km wide. In 2016, Fakarava became part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve created in 1977. The atoll was evangelized by Honoré Laval, a Catholic priest in 1849: the Rotoava church was blessed in 1850 and the Tetamanu church, dating from 1874, was built in coral.Īt the beginning of the 20th century, the atoll was divided into two districts: Tehatea and Tetamanu. In the 19th century, Fakarava became a French territory with a population of about 375 inhabitants, which developed a small production of coconut oil (about 7 to 8 barrels per year around 1860), but became, due to its geographical position and the seaport offered by its lagoon, one of the main centers of trade in this resource and of mother-of-pearl production.

It was visited by the British sailor Ireland on 2 October 1831, who mentioned it under the same name, and then on 14 November 1835 by his compatriot Robert FitzRoy, as well as by the French navigator Jules Dumont d'Urville in September 1838. The atoll was first mentioned by a European on 17 July 1820 by the Russian navigator Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, who gave it the name Wittgenstein Island. The Pōmare Dynasty originated here before ruling the island of Tahiti.

Fakarava atoll