Tekokota
Encyclopedia
Tekokota is one of the Central Tuamotu atoll
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...

s, located close to the geographic center of the archipelago.

Tekokota Atoll is one of the smallest atolls of the Tuamotus. Its islands have a total land mass of only 0.9 km².

Tekokota's shape is roughly oval
Oval (geometry)
In technical drawing, an oval is a figure constructed from two pairs of arcs, with two different radii . The arcs are joined at a point, in which lines tangential to both joining arcs lie on the same line, thus making the joint smooth...

 and it is 5 km in length and 3.5 km in width.
The western side of Tekokota Atoll is submerged. The surface of its shallow central lagoon is 5.1 km².

Tekokota Atoll is uninhabited. The closest land to Tekokota is Hikueru
Hikueru
Hikueru, Tiveru, or Te Kārena, is one of the Central Tuamotu atolls. The closest land to Hikueru is Tekokota Atoll, located 22 km to the north....

 Atoll, located 22 km to the south.

History

Tekokota was first sighted by James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...

 in 1773. He named Tekokota Atoll "Doubtful".

Months later Spanish explorer José de Andía called this atoll, "La del Peligro" (The Dangerous One).
A few days later, another Spanish navigator Domingo de Boenechea sighted Tekokota on ship Aguila. He named this atoll "Los Mártires".

Administration

Tekokota Atoll belongs to the commune of Hikueru, which consists of the atolls of Hikueru, Marokau
Marokau
Marokau is an atoll of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. It lies 53 km southeast of Hikueru Atoll and it is separated by a 2 km wide sound from Ravahere, its closest neighbor in the south....

, Ravahere
Ravahere
Ravahere is an atoll of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. It is located 53 km northwest of Nengonengo Atoll and it is separated by a 2 km sound from Marokau Atoll, its closest neighbor to the north....

, Reitoru
Reitoru
Reitoru, or Te Pirehi, is a small atoll of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. It is located in center of the archipelago, 50 km southwest of Hikueru....

and Tekokota.

External links



The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK