Paraoa
Template: Infobox Atoll / Maintenance / height Missing
Paraoa, other names: Tohora, Hariri, Gloucester Iceland, is a small, uninhabited island in the South Pacific that are geographically part of the Tuamotu Archipelago.
Geography
The almost oval atoll measures 8.5 × 5.5 km, but only has a land area of just under 4 km ². The 14 km ² extensive lagoon of the atoll is completely enclosed by a coral reef that has no motorable access. The north and north-east side is formed by a long, on average, only 250 m wide coral island which comprises about two-thirds of the atoll. The water exchange between the lagoon and the ocean is performed by Hoa flat on the south side of the fringing reef, which separate several small Motus each other ..
The vegetation is largely untouched, they einspricht in composition of the flora of the flat coral islands of the Tuamotus other (see → Tuamotu Archipelago # flora). In the north- west of the main island of a small area was cleared and created a coconut plantation, probably during the copra boom in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The plantation is now visited only sporadically for harvest.
History
It is not known whether the island was ever permanently inhabited by Polynesians. Because of the total lack of fresh water, the small land area and the limited resources that should be rather unlikely. An archaeological exploration, however, has not yet taken place. Wallis, however, took 1767 over the pass on the west coast about 16 Polynesians true, brandishing spears threateningly, but saw no canoes and no evidence of a settlement. It is therefore more likely to assume that there were transient visitors from another island.
The British naval officer and Weltumsegeler Samuel Wallis discovered Paraoa for Europe. On the way from the Strait of Magellan to Tahiti Dolphin happened on June 11, 1767 an unknown island that Wallis " Gloucester Iceland " baptized, by William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, the younger brother of King George III. Since Wallis did not expect, water and food on the tiny to be able to take little resources promising island, he gave up a touchdown that seemed to him to be dangerous because of the numerous reefs, high surf and strong winds. Wallis points out in his notes that the island was indeed heavily forested but that he had not seen coconut trees.
The British polar explorer and geographer Frederick William Beechey reached Paraoa in February in 1826. Nor did he went ashore, fearing to be driven on the rocks because of the strong surf. Also Beechey saw no signs of any inhabitants.
The researchers of the " Whitney South Seas Expedition ," whose primary objective was to explore the Pacific avifauna and collecting bird specimens for the American Museum of Natural History, Paraoa searched on June 28, 1922, accumulated there a copy of the bristle curlew (Numenius tahitiensis ).
Politics and Administration
The uninhabited island belongs politically to the French overseas country ( pays d' outre- mer - POM) French Polynesia and is administered by the municipality Hao.