- Vanavana
Vanavana, Kurataki, or Huataki is an
atoll in the southeastern area of theTuamotu Archipelago ,French Polynesia . Vanavana's nearest neighbor isTureia , which is located 58 km to the east.Vanavana is a small oval-shaped atoll. It measures approximately 5 km in length and has a maximum width of 3.2 km. Its reef encloses completely the deep lagoon, which is 61 km2. There is one hook-shaped large island in the north and another in the south of its reef.
Vanavana Atoll is uninhabited.
History
The first recorded European to arrive to Vanavana was British mariner Captain
Frederick Beechey in 1826. He named this atoll "Barrow Island", afterSir John Barrow .Administration
Administratively Vanavana Atoll belongs to the commune of
Tureia , which includes the atolls of Tureia,Fangataufa ,Moruroa ,Tematangi andVanavana .References
* [http://www.oceandots.com/pacific/tuamotu/vanavana.htm]
* [http://www.mcgahernbooks.ca/176.html History]
* [http://www.evs-islands.com/2006_10_15_archive.html Map of Vanavana]
* [http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_8_1899/Volume_8,_No._4,_December_1899/Names_of_the_Paumotu_Islands,_by_J.L._Young,_p_264-268?action=null Atoll names]External links
* [http://www.pacific-image.pf/pages/boutic/dboutic_cdrom_sp132.html Atoll list (in French)]
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