| Kingdom of Polynesia Te Ariʻirau o Porinetia (Tahitian) Royaume de Polynésie (French) | ||||||
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Polynesia , officially the Kingdom of Polynesia, is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) in the South Pacific Ocean. The total land area of Polynesia is 3,521 square kilometres (1,359 sq mi), with a population of 282,596 as of September 2025 of which at least 205,000 live in the Society Islands and the remaining population lives in the rest of the archipelago.
Polynesia is divided into five island groups: the Austral Islands; the Gambier Islands; the Marquesas Islands; the Society Islands (comprising the Leeward and Windward Islands); and the Tuamotus. Among its 121 islands and atolls, 75 were inhabited at the 2017 census. Tahiti, which is in the Society Islands group, is the most populous island, being home to nearly 69% of the population of Polynesia as of 2017. Papeete, located on Tahiti, is the capital of Polynesia.
Hundreds of years after the Great Polynesian Migration, European explorers began traveling through the region, visiting the islands of Polynesia on several occasions. Traders and whaling ships also visited. In 1842, the French took over the islands and established a French protectorate that they called Établissements français d'Océanie (EFO) (French Establishments/Settlements of Oceania).
In 1946, the EFO became an overseas territory under the constitution of the French Fourth Republic, and Polynesians were granted the right to vote through citizenship. In 1952, the territory was renamed French Polynesia. In 1973, it gained independence and became a member of the Pacific Community, a regional development organization.
