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Fangataufa

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Fangataufa (or Fangatafoa) is an uninhabited coral atoll in the eastern part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. The atoll has been fully owned by the French state since 1964. From 1966 to 1996 it was used as a nuclear test site by the French government. In total, 4 atmospheric and 10 underground nuclear explosions were carried out on the atoll.

Key facts

Islands.name
Fangataufa
Islands.image_name
Fangataufa.JPG
Islands.image_caption
Satellite view of Fangataufa Atoll showing the dark blue depths of the induced crater. Courtesy NASA.
Islands.map
French Polynesia
Islands.location
Pacific Ocean
Islands.archipelago
Tuamotus
Islands.area_km2
45
Islands.area_footnotes
(lagoon) (above water)
Islands.length_km
9.5
Islands.width_km
9.5
Islands.country
France
Islands.country_admin_divisions_title
Overseas collectivity
Islands.country_admin_divisions
French Polynesia
Islands.country_admin_divisions_title_2
Commune
Islands.country_admin_divisions_2
Tureia
Islands.country_admin_divisions_title_1
Administrative subdivision
Islands.country_admin_divisions_1
Tuamotus
Islands.population
Uninhabited

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Population
0
Area
5
Image
Fangataufa.JPG
Show 2 more facts
Commons category
Fangataufa
time of discovery or invention
1826-00-00
Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~5 min read

Article

8 sections
Contents
  • Geography
  • History
  • Nuclear test site
  • Since 1998
  • Administration
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

Fangataufa (or Fangatafoa) is an uninhabited coral atoll in the eastern part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. The atoll has been fully owned by the French state since 1964. From 1966 to 1996 it was used as a nuclear test site by the French government. In total, 4 atmospheric and 10 underground nuclear explosions were carried out on the atoll.

==Geography== The atoll is a coral outgrowth of a seamount which rises some from the seafloor, to a depth of . The seamount was formed 33.4 - 34.7 million years ago by the Pitcairn hotspot. The island is approx. long and wide. It has a lagoon area of and a land area of . It is located south of Moruroa atoll, east of Tematangi, southwest of the Gambier Islands and southeast of Tahiti.

On the map

3 mapped locations

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