Îles Maria

Îles Maria or simply Maria, also known as Hull Island [cite book
url=http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-BucViki-t1-body-d1-d13.html#n204
title=Vikings of the Sunrise
author=
chapter=13. South and Southeast
publisher=New Zealand Electronic Text Center
accessdate=2007-09-06] , is a small coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean. Its original name is Nororotu. The nearest land is Rimatara situated 205 km to the ESE.

The atoll consists of four islets ("îles"), with a dense atoll forest [cite web
url=http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/oc/oc0116_full.html
title=Tubuai tropical moist forests (OC0116)
publisher=World Wildlife Fund
accessdate=2007-09-06] and a very shallow lagoon, supporting numerous bird species. The island is uninhabited now, but at one time was the site of a penal colony. [cite web
url=http://islands.unep.ch/IKM.htm
title=UN Systemwide Earthwatch Site
publisher=United Nations Environment Programme
accessdate=2007-09-06] Copra is occasionally harvested at the island.

The Îles Maria should not be confused with Maria Atoll in the Gambier Islands, also in French Polynesia, which is sometimes differentiated with the name "Maria Est" (East). [cite web
url=http://www.oceandots.com/pacific/tuamotu/maria.htm
title=Tuamotu Archipelago - Maria
publisher=Oceandots.com
accessdate=2007-09-06] There is also another island once known as Hull Island in the Phoenix Islands, which is now known as Orona.

History

This atoll is named for the whaler "Maria", who sighted the island in 1824.cite book
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=6NUSbK-8bpQC&pg=PA269&dq=maria+hull+atoll&ie=ISO-8859-1&sig=Qnz2Po541uzZlJrlS346j4hN4wg
title=Tahiti & French Polynesia
author=Hilary Rodgers, Tony Wheeler, Jean-Bernard Carillet
year=2003
publisher=Lonely Planet
isbn=1740592298] , which was captained by George Washington Gardner, a Nantucket sea captain (1778-1838). [Dunmore, John (1992); "Who's Who in Pacific Navigation", Australia:Melbourne University Press, ISBN 052284488X, pp114-115]

Administration

The atoll Îles Maria is administratively part of Rimatara commune (municipality) in the Tubuai (Austral Islands) division of French Polynesia.

References

* [http://www.oceandots.com/pacific/tubuai/maria.htm Maria] - from OceanDots