Tahanea Atoll is an uninhabited atoll of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. It is located to the east of Faaite Atoll.
Tahanea Atoll measures in length with a maximum width of . The southern reef fringing the atoll is wider than the northern one, but the largest islands are on the narrower northern rim. Tahanea has a wide and deep lagoon with a surface area of . There are three deep, navigable passes into the lagoon: Motupuapua, Teavatapu, and Otao.
Tahanea is uninhabited, but visited occasionally by islanders from neighboring atolls.
History
The first recorded European to sight Tahanea was Spanish navigator Domingo de Boenechea on 9 November 1774 on the ship Aguila. He named this atoll "San Julián".Sharp, Andrew The discovery of the Pacific Islands Oxford, 1960, p.125,126,127.Brand, Donald D. The Pacific Basin: A History of its Geographical Explorations The American Geographical Society, New York, 1967, p.139.
Russian oceanic explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen visited Tahanea in 1820 on ships Vostok and Mirni. He named this atoll "Chichagov".
Administration Tahanea belongs to the commune of Anaa that also includes the associated commune of Faaite with the atoll of Faaite and the uninhabited atolls of Tahanea and Motutunga.
See also
Desert island List of islands
References
External links
Spanish voyages Bellingshausen Atoll list (in French)