Pacific Magazine > 2007 Pacific Almanac
French Polynesia
The Basics
Population: 259,596 (2007)
Capital: Pape'ete
Land Area: 3,660 sq. km.
Political Status and Form of Government: Overseas Territory of France since 1946
Languages: French (official), Tahitian (official)
Currency: Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique franc (CFP)
Number of Islands: 118 islands and atolls
The Numbers
Gross Domestic Product: US$3,776,721,000 (2002)
Gross Domestic Product per capita: US$15,637 (2002)
Gross Domestic Product Growth Rate: 4% (2001 est.)
National Budget: F CFP161.4 billion (US$2 billion) (2008 proposed)
Aid per capita: US$1.5 billion total (not per capita) from France (2005)
Life Expectancy: Male: 76.31 years (2007 est.) Female:
Ethnicity: Polynesian 78%, Chinese 12%, local French 6%, metropolitan French 4%
Nationality: French Polynesian
Age Distribution:0-14 years: 25.4%, 15-64 years: 68.2%, 65+: 6.3% (2006 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 4% (1999-2000)
People in Power
Head of Government: President Oscar Temaru (also external relations, decentralization, municipalities’ development, executive positions' localization)
Head of State: President Nicolas Sarkozy of France
Cabinet Members: Antony Géros ,vice president, minister of finance, housing, lands, outer island development; James Salmon, Public utilities, land and maritime transport; Pierre Frébault, economy, labor, employment and vocational training, public service; Jean-Marius Raapoto, education; Charles Tetaria, health; Léon Lichtlé, agriculture; Keitapu Maamaatuaiahutapu, sea, fisheries and aquaculture; Dauphin Domingo, inter-island maritime and air transports; Marc Collins, tourism and air transports; Georges Handerson, development and environment; Gilles Tefaatau, small and medium enterprises, industry; Jacqui Drollet posts and telecommunications, culture; Michel Yip, pearl farming sector; Patricia Jennings, solidarity, family affairs and the struggle against social exclusion; Tauhiti Nena, youth and sports; Valentina Cross, women's affairs, arts and crafts.
Representative Body: Unicameral Territorial Assembly or Assemblee Territoriale (57 seats—changed from 49 seats for May 2004 election; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
Regional Organizations
FZ, ICFTU, PIF (Associate Member), SOPAC, SPC, SPREP, SPTO, WMO, UPU
Media & Internet Service Providers
Radio: AM 2, FM 14, shortwave 2 (1998);
Television: 7 (plus 17 low-power repeaters) (1997)
Print: La Depeche (newspaper); Les Nouvelles (newspaper); Tahiti Beach Press (tourism publication); Tahiti Pacifique (magazine); Tahitipresse agency
ISP: Mana (under OPT)
Recent News
The past year was characteristically tumultuous for French Polynesia politics and 2008 looks set to follow in that tradition. A snap election is scheduled for January 27, with a second round on February 10 and politicians have been on the campaign trail for several months now.
It follows the defeat of Former president Gaston Tong Sang Sept. 1 in a no confidence motion backed by 35 of the 57 Legislative Assembly members and orchestrated by Union of Democracy Caucus leader Oscar Temaru and his former nemesis Gaston Flosse. Temaru subsequently won the presidency, but the French government ruled full elections would be held in the new year.
Tong Sang says he will now run under the wing of his new party, “Polynesia My Home,” which he says will promote French Polynesia's autonomy from France.
Post election, Temaru was criticized for naming a 16 member Cabinet, on the grounds that it was expensive and unnecessary given its short life before elections.
Since the last general elections in May 2004, French Polynesia has seen five presidents come and go, all but one of them toppled by motions of no confidence. In response, a controversial bill aimed at ending French Polynesia’s chronic instability has passed both houses of France’s Parliament—despite strong opposition from Tahiti.
Among its provisions are instructions that a French Polynesian President would be "impeached" now only through a decision of the French State Council, any motion of no confidence must have the signed backing of at least a quarter of the 57 MPs on French Polynesia's Legislative Assembly, and that only the French language is now considered as the official means of expression in French Polynesia's local lawmaking House. There is also now a ceiling of 15 ministers in any French Polynesian government.
The Temaru government has pressed forward nonetheless, proposing a 2008 preliminary budget of 161.4 billion French Pacific francs (US$2 billion)—11 percent less than 2007's twice-modified budget.
French Polynesia's business leaders expressed concerned about the ongoing instability. Small and Medium Businesses Confederation (Confédération Générale des Petites et Moyennes Enterprises, CGPME) President Christophe Plee said most of French Polynesia's business leaders and stakeholders had placed several investment projects on hold because the political turmoil.
French Polynesia’s important tourism industry registered a human tragedy in August, after all 20 people aboard an Air Moorea plane died when it crashed after takeoff. The tragedy came just days after French Polynesia's international flag carrier, Air Tahiti Nui, sacked 33 flight attendants over drug smuggling charges.
French Polynesia's tourism industry has netted some US$520 million in 2006—an increase of some 6.1 percent over 2005 and continues to be a crucial foundation of the economy.
Airlines, Shippers Serving Countrys
Air: Air France, Air New Zealand, Air Tahiti Nui, Hawaiian Airlines, AirCalin, LanChile, Qantas. Shippers: Alpha Ship, Bank Line, CMG, Companie Polynesienne de Transport Maritime, Rickmers Reederei, local passenger and cargo services.
Main Government Contact
Office of the President
BP 2551, 98713 Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
Tahiti Tourisme
PO Box 65, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
Sources and French Polynesia on the Web
Office of President
www.presidence.pf
Bureau of Statistics
www.ispf.pf
www.tahitipresse.pf
www.tahiti-tourisme.pf
CIA Factbook
www.cia.gov/
Asian Development Bank
www.adb.org
Map courtesy UH Press, The Pacific Islands: and Encyclopedia
Click map for larger image
