Îles Maria or simply Maria, also known as Hull Island, is a small coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. Its original name is Nororotu. The nearest land is Rimatara

Rimatara

Rimatara is the westernmost inhabited island in the Austral Islands of French Polynesia. It has a total surface area of and a population of 786 inhabitants . It is located south of Tahiti and west of Rurutu...

 situated 205 km to the ESE.

The atoll consists of four islets (îles), with a dense atoll forest and a very shallow lagoon, supporting numerous bird species. The island is uninhabited now, but at one time was the site of a penal colony

Penal colony

A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...

. Copra

Copra

Copra is the dried meat, or kernel, of the coconut. Coconut oil extracted from it has made copra an important agricultural commodity for many coconut-producing countries. It also yields coconut cake which is mainly used as feed for livestock.-Production:...

 is occasionally harvested at the island.

The Îles Maria should not be confused with Maria

Maria Est

Maria Atoll is a small atoll of the Tuamotu group in French Polynesia. It is located in the far southeast of the archipelago, about 72 km southwest from Marutea Sud. Maria's closest neighbour is the small atoll of Matureivavao of the Acteon Group, 56 km to the northwest.Maria Atoll is oval in...

 Atoll in the Gambier Islands

Gambier Islands

There was a time when the Gambiers hosted a population of several thousand people and traded with other island groups including the Marquesas, the Society Islands and Pitcairn Islands...

, also in French Polynesia, which is sometimes differentiated with the name "Maria Est" (East). There is also another island once known as Hull Island in the Phoenix Islands

Phoenix Islands

The Phoenix Islands are a group of eight atolls and two submerged coral reefs, lying in the central Pacific Ocean east of the Gilbert Islands and west of the Line Islands. They are a part of the Republic of Kiribati. During the late 1930s they became the site of the last attempted colonial...

, which is now known as Orona.

History

This atoll is named for the whaler

Whaler

A whaler is a specialized ship, designed for whaling, the catching and/or processing of whales. The former included the whale catcher, a steam or diesel-driven vessel with a harpoon gun mounted at its bows. The latter included such vessels as the sail or steam-driven whaleship of the 16th to early...

 Maria, who sighted the island in 1824., which was captained by George Washington Gardner, a Nantucket sea captain (1778-1838).

Administration

The atoll Îles Maria is administratively part of Rimatara commune (municipality) in the Tubuai (Austral Islands)

Tubuai (Austral Islands)

Tubuai is the name of a group of islands and also the name of its main island, being part of the Austral Islands, French Polynesia, in the Pacific Ocean. Tubuai, the main island of the Tubuai Island group, is located at . It is south of Tahiti...

 division of French Polynesia

French Polynesia

French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...

.

External links

• Maria - from OceanDots