Taravai

Taravai

View of Taravai
Taravai
Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	23°08′12″S 135°01′33″W / 23.13667°S 135.02583°WCoordinates: 23°08′12″S 135°01′33″W / 23.13667°S 135.02583°W
Archipelago	Tuamotus
Area	5.7 km^2 (2.2 sq mi)
Highest elevation	256 m (840 ft)
Highest point	(unnamed)
Administration
France
Overseas collectivity	French Polynesia
Administrative subdivision	Tuamotus
Commune	Gambier Islands
Largest settlement	Agonoko
Demographics
Population	9[1] (2012)

Taravai is the second largest island in the Gambier Islands of French Polynesia, at 5.7 km². Taravai is about 1.5 km southwest of Mangareva and about 300 m north of the island of Angakauitai. Off its eastern shore lies the tiny rock Îlot Motu-o-ari.

The village named Agonoko is located near the main bay on the island's eastern shore. It has a population of 9 (as of 2012). Former villages were Aga-nui (northwest) and Agakau-i-uta (southeast).^[2]

The Onemea archaeological site suggests sporadic occupation of the island around AD 950 with a possible continuous settlement since the 13th century.^[3]

Before the conversion to Christianity, the king of Taravai was a vassal to the king of Rikitea in Mangareva.^[4]

• 
  View of Taravai and Angakauitai from Mount Mokoto
• 
  Church of Saint-Gabriel
• 
  View of Mangareva and Aukena from Taravai
• 
  Taravai

References

1. "Population". Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
2. Goodbye Gambiers
3. The Onemea site (Taravai Island, Mangareva) and the human colonization of Southeastern Polynesia. Archaeology in Oceania
4. R. W. Williamson, The Social and Political Systems of Central Polynesia, Cambridge University Press, 1924

External links

• Mangareva, Tahiti - Death of a People