Hao (French Polynesia)

Template: Infobox Atoll / Maintenance / height Missing

Hao (also HEAO, old name: Bow Iceland or Iceland of the Arch ) is an atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago in the center of the Pacific Ocean and belongs politically to French Polynesia. Hao is also the administrative seat of the homonymous municipality in the Tuamotu Archipelago, among the other next to the Hao atoll of nine islands and atolls.

Geography

Hao is located about 920 kilometers east of Tahiti. The flat coral atoll (highest elevation 3 feet above sea level) is about 50 km long and 14 km wide. Only 47 square kilometers of land area formed from a larger island and several small Motus enclose doing a 490 km ² lagoon.

History

The atoll was discovered on February 10, 1606 by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandez de Quirós. He called it the Conversion de San Pablo ( German: Conversion of St. Paul ). Was taken into possession for France Hao on March 23, 1768 by Louis Antoine de Bougainville, the ( German: Island of the harp ) it then follows that of the main island of Ile de la Harpe called.

Between 1963 and 1965 France had to build an infrastructure, primarily to use as a supply base for the Hao nuclear tests on the Mururoa Atoll. Were built at that time, inter alia, an airport and a hospital.

30 June 2000 gave the French forces on the location Hao Atoll. Airstrip and other military equipment used since only for civilian purposes.

During operation of the Space Shuttle Hao airport was an "extended emergency landing " ( english: Augmented Emergency Landing Site ) and kept ready for unscheduled landings.