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Motu One (Society Islands)
Encyclopedia
Atoll
An atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...
in the Leeward group
Leeward Islands (Society Islands)
The Leeward Islands are the western part of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the South Pacific. They lie south of the Line Islands , east of the Cooks and north of the Austral Islands . Their area is 395 km² with a population of over 33,000...
of the Society Islands
Society Islands
The Society Islands are a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. They are politically part of French Polynesia. The archipelago is generally believed to have been named by Captain James Cook in honor of the Royal Society, the sponsor of the first British scientific survey of the islands;...
. Motu One is located 550 km northwest from Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
and 72 km northeast of Manuae
Manuae
Manuae is an uninhabited atoll in the southern group of the Cook Islands, 100 kilometres south-east of Aitutaki. It is administratively part of Aitutaki, but does not belong to any district or tapere of Aitutaki. It is, however, part of Arutanga-Reureu-Nikaupara Constituency.Manuae is a true atoll...
, its closest neighbor.
Motu One's reef encloses totally a lagoon without a pass. All of its sides are covered with low, wooded sandy islands except for its southern side. Motu One means Sand Island in Polynesian, that is a low-lying, sandy islet that cannot sustain permanent human habitation.
History
The name Bellinghausen or more rarely Bellingshausen was given to this small atoll by the Baltic GermanBaltic German
The Baltic Germans were mostly ethnically German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today form the countries of Estonia and Latvia. The Baltic German population never made up more than 10% of the total. They formed the social, commercial, political and cultural élite in...
navigator in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n service Otto von Kotzebue
Otto von Kotzebue
Otto von Kotzebue was a Baltic German navigator in Russian service....
in honour of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen
Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen
Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen was an officer in the Imperial Russian Navy, cartographer and explorer, who ultimately rose to the rank of Admiral...
. It should not be confused with Bellingshausen Island
Bellingshausen Island
The island is a basaltic andesite stratovolcano, and the latest crater, about across and deep, formed explosively some time between 1968 and 1984.-References:*...
, part of the South Sandwich Islands, in the southwest Atlantic.
Administration
Motu One Atoll is administratively part of the commune (municipality) of MaupitiMaupiti (commune)
Maupiti is a commune of French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The commune is in the administrative subdivision of the Leeward Islands....
, itself in the administrative subdivision of the Leeward Islands
Leeward Islands (Society Islands)
The Leeward Islands are the western part of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the South Pacific. They lie south of the Line Islands , east of the Cooks and north of the Austral Islands . Their area is 395 km² with a population of over 33,000...
.