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| Country | French Polynesia | | | Flag |  | | | Capital | name: Papeete geographic coordinates: 17 32 S, 149 34 W time difference: UTC-10 (5 hours behind Washington, DC during Standard Time) | | | Population | 278,963 (July 2007 est.) | | | GMT | -10 | | | Location | Oceania, archipelagoes in the South Pacific Ocean about one-half of the way from South America to Australia
see map | | | Area | total: 4,167 sq km (118 islands and atolls) land: 3,660 sq km water: 507 sq km | | | Ethnic groups | Polynesian 78%, Chinese 12%, local French 6%, metropolitan French 4% | | | Religions | Protestant 54%, Roman Catholic 30%, other 10%, no religion 6% | | | Languages | French 61.1% (official), Polynesian 31.4% (official), Asian languages 1.2%, other 0.3%, unspecified 6% (2002 census) | | | Government type | NA | | | National holiday | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) | | | Constitution | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution) | | | Legal system | based on French system | | | Background | The French annexed various Polynesian island groups during the 19th century. In September 1995, France stirred up widespread protests by resuming nuclear testing on the Mururoa atoll after a three-year moratorium. The tests were suspended in January 1996. In recent years, French Polynesia's autonomy has been considerably expanded. | | Internet country code | .pf | |
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