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======================================================
National Trade Data Bank
ITEM ID     : CI WOFACT WO0084
DATE        : Oct 28, 1994
 
AGENCY      : CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
PROGRAM     : WORLD FACTBOOK
TITLE       : World Factbook: French Polynesia
 
Source key      : CI 
Program key     : CI WOFACT 
Update sched.   : Annually         
Data type       : TEXT 
End year        : 1994
Date of record  : 19941020
Keywords 3      :  
Keywords 3      : | French Polynesia 
 
 
                             French Polynesia
 
 
                                  Header
 
Affiliation:
     (overseas territory of France)
 
                                 Geography
 
Location:
     Oceania, Polynesia halfway between Australia and South America
Map references:
     Oceania
Area:
total area:
     3,941 sq km
land area:
     3,660 sq km
comparative area:
     slightly less than one-third the size of Connecticut
Land boundaries:
     0 km
Coastline:
     2,525 km
Maritime claims:
exclusive economic zone:
     200 nm
territorial sea:
     12 nm
International disputes:
     none
Climate:
     tropical, but moderate
Terrain:
     mixture of rugged high islands and low islands with reefs
Natural resources:
     timber, fish, cobalt
Land use:
arable land:
     1%
permanent crops:
     19%
meadows and pastures:
     5%
forest and woodland:
     31%
other:
     44%
Irrigated land:
     NA sq km
Environment:
current issues:
     NA
natural hazards:
     occasional cyclonic storms in January
 
 
international agreements:
     NA
Note:
     includes five archipelagoes; Makatea in French Polynesia is one of the
     three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean - the others
     are Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and Nauru
 
                                  People
 
Population:
     215,129 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
     2.25% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
     27.75 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
     5.27 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
     0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
     14.8 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
     70.54 years
male:
     68.14 years
female:
     73.06 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
     3.31 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
     French Polynesian(s)
adjective:
     French Polynesian
Ethnic divisions:
     Polynesian 78%, Chinese 12%, local French 6%, metropolitan French 4%
Religions:
     Protestant 54%, Roman Catholic 30%, other 16%
Languages:
     French (official), Tahitian (official)
Literacy:
     age 14 and over but definition of literacy not available (1977)
total population:
     98%
male:
     98%
female:
     98%
Labor force:
     76,630 employed (1988)
 
                                Government
 
 
Names:
conventional long form:
     Territory of French Polynesia
conventional short form:
local long form:
     Territoire de la Polynesie Francaise
local short form:
     Polynesie Francaise
Digraph:
     FP
Type:
     overseas territory of France since 1946
Capital:
     Papeete
Administrative divisions:
     none (overseas territory of France); there are no first-order
     administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there
     are 5 archipelagic divisions named Archipel des Marquises, Archipel
     des Tuamotu, Archipel des Tubuai, Iles du Vent, and Iles Sous-le-Vent
note:
     Clipperton Island is administered by France from French Polynesia
Independence:
     none (overseas territory of France)
National holiday:
     National Day, Taking of the Bastille, 14 July (1789)
Constitution:
     28 September 1958 (French Constitution)
Legal system:
     based on French system
Suffrage:
     18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state:
     President Francois MITTERRAND (since 21 May 1981); High Commissioner
     of the Republic Michel JAU (since NA February 1992)
head of government:
     President of the Territorial Government of French Polynesia Gaston
     FLOSSE (since 10 May 1991); Deputy to the French Assembly and
     President of the Territorial Assembly Jean JUVENTIN (since NA November
     1992); Territorial Vice President and Minister of Health Michel
     BUILLARD (since 12 September 1991)
cabinet:
     Council of Ministers; president submits a list of members of the
     Assembly for approval by them to serve as ministers
Legislative branch:
     unicameral
Territorial Assembly:
     elections last held 17 March 1991 (next to be held March 1996);
     results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (41 total) People's
     Rally for the Republic (Gaullist) 18, Polynesian Union Party 12, New
     Fatherland Party 7, other 4
 
 
French Senate:
     elections last held 24 September 1989 (next to be held September
     1998); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (1 total) party
     NA
French National Assembly:
     elections last held 21 and 28 March 1993 (next to be held NA March
     1998); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (2 total)
     People's Rally for the Republic (Gaullist) 2
Judicial branch:
     Court of Appeal, Court of the First Instance, Court of Administrative
     Law
Political parties and leaders:
     People's Rally for the Republic (Tahoeraa Huiraatira), Gaston FLOSSE;
     Polynesian Union Party includes Te Tiarama, Alexandre LEONTIEFF, and
     Pupu Here Ai'a Te Nuneao Ia Ora, Jean JUVENTIN; New Fatherland Party
     (Ai'a Api), Emile VERNAUDON; Polynesian Liberation Front (Tavini
     Huiraatira), Oscar TEMARU; Independent Party (Ia Mana Te Nunaa), James
     SALMON; other small parties
Member of:
     ESCAP (associate), FZ, ICFTU, SPC, WMO
Diplomatic representation in US:
     none (overseas territory of France)
US diplomatic representation:
     none (overseas territory of France)
Flag:
     the flag of France is used
 
                                  Economy
 
Overview:
     Since 1962, when France stationed military personnel in the region,
     French Polynesia has changed from a subsistence economy to one in
     which a high proportion of the work force is either employed by the
     military or supports the tourist industry. Tourism accounts for about
     20% of GDP and is a primary source of hard currency earnings.
National product:
     GDP - exchange rate conversion - $1.5 billion (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
     NA%
National product per capita:
     $7,000 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
     -0.6% (1991)
Unemployment rate:
     10% (1990 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
     $614 million
expenditures:
     $957 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1988)
Exports:
     $88.9 million (f.o.b., 1989)
commodities:
     coconut products 79%, mother-of-pearl 14%, vanilla, shark meat
 
 
partners:
     France 54%, US 17%, Japan 17%
Imports:
     $765 million (c.i.f., 1989)
commodities:
     fuels, foodstuffs, equipment
partners:
     France 53%, US 11%, Australia 6%, NZ 5%
External debt:
     $NA
Industrial production:
     growth rate NA%
Electricity:
capacity:
     75,000 kW
production:
     275 million kWh
consumption per capita:
     1,330 kWh (1992)
Industries:
     tourism, pearls, agricultural processing, handicrafts
Agriculture:
     coconut and vanilla plantations; vegetables and fruit; poultry, beef,
     dairy products
Economic aid:
recipient:
     Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
     (1970-88), $3.95 billion
Currency:
     1 CFP franc (CFPF) = 100 centimes
Exchange rates:
     Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique francs (CFPF) per US$1 - 107.63
     (January 1994), 102.96 (1993), 96.24 (1992), 102.57 (1991), 99.00
     (1990), 115.99 (1989); note - linked at the rate of 18.18 to the
     French franc
Fiscal year:
     calendar year
 
                              Communications
 
Highways:
total:
     600 km (1982)
paved:
     NA
unpaved:
     NA
Ports:
     Papeete, Bora-bora
Merchant marine:
     3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,127 GRT/6,710 DWT,
     passenger-cargo 2, refrigerated cargo 1
note:
     a captive subset of the French register
 
 
Airports:
total:
     43
usable:
     41
with permanent-surface runways:
     23
with runways over 3,659 m:
     0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
     2
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
     12
Telecommunications:
     33,200 telephones; 84,000 radio receivers; 26,400 TV sets; broadcast
     stations - 5 AM, 2 FM, 6 TV; 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth station
 
                              Defense Forces
 
Branches:
     French forces (including Army, Navy, Air Force), Gendarmerie
Note:
     defense is responsibility of France
 
 
 
===========================================================================
This section of THE WORLD FACTBOOK 1994 produced by the United States
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was derived from the US Dept. of Commerce
Economics and Statistics Division's NATIONAL TRADE DATA BANK (NTDB) CD-ROM,
November, 1994, SuDoc No. C 1.88:994/11/v.1-2 / Presented by Raleigh Muns,
(srcmuns@umslvma.umsl.edu) University of Missouri-St. Louis Libraries.