Haraiki

Template: Infobox Atoll / Maintenance / height Missing

Haraiki, also Heraiki, old name: Birnie, Croker Croker or Iceland, Isla de San Quentin, is a small, uninhabited island in the South Pacific, which is geographically part of the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia politically.

Geography

Haraiki located in the center of the Tuamotu archipelago, 42 km southwest of the nearest inhabited island Marutea north, almost on the same latitude as Tahiti. The atoll consists of four islands ( motu ), a major in the north, two smaller in the southwest and the southeast. The surrounding reef has approximately the shape of a triangle with the hypotenuse in the north. Just to the south of the reef can freely a narrow passage, which is only navigable for small boats. The lagoon measures 7 x 4.5 km, covering an area of 11 km ². The land area of the four Motu is considerably smaller, they together is only around 3.5 km ².

The island is located in a relatively small, undersea plateau, part of the Tuamotu Seamout trails, the 2760 m from the sea floor rises.

The climate is tropical, hot, the temperatures are mitigated by constantly blowing winds something. Long-term weather data are not available.

Flora and Fauna

The flora of the low atolls of Tuamotu, was originally largely identical for the same climate and similar soil conditions. These factors had a low biodiversity and widespread uniformity of vegetation result.

See also: Tuamotu Archipelago → Flora

From this original vegetation has hardly remained on Haraiki something. Since the late 19th or early 20th century it has all four islands of the atoll cleared a large area and applied coconut plantations Kopragewinnung. The plantations are cultivated even by residents of the neighboring islands.

The uniformity of the secondary vegetation may be responsible for ensuring that land hermit crabs were able to capture ( Coenobitidae ), including the coconut crab, the island en masse.

History

Whether Haraiki was ever permanently inhabited, is unclear. The reports of early European visitors are to be found no information. Relics of Polynesian settlers were not found, so far there was however no thorough archaeological investigations.

The first European explorers who saw 1774 Haraiki on October 31, Domingo de Boenechea was. He named the island " San Quintin " for the Holy Quintinus, whose feast day is October 31. Boenechea not entered the island.

On September 22, 1821 drove Captain Francis Stavers with the whaling ship on the Tuscan way of Cape Horn to Tahiti to the island over and called them " Birnie Iceland " by Alexander Birnie, the owner of the Tuscan.

Frederick William Beechey Haraiki happened in February 1826 and named the island " Croker Iceland " by John Wilson Croker First Secretary of the British Admiralty.

Administration and infrastructure

The uninhabited Haraiki now belongs politically to the French overseas country ( pays d' outre- mer - POM) French Polynesia and is used by the community Makemo (Commune de Makemo ) managed.

In the north of the main island of a small and only temporarily inhabited during the harvest village from some corrugated iron -roofed huts and open shelters is to dry the copra. Both on the ocean and on the lagoon side there is a concrete jetty for small boats. The coconut plantations are associated with unpaved paths. Any other infrastructure, especially water and energy supply, is missing. Haraiki is to reach for the tourists hardly ship connections there, there is not.