FRENCH POLYNESIA

FRENCH POLYNESIA / POLYNÉSIE FRANÇAISE - PŌRĪNETIA FARĀNI.

Space Year commemoration.
Satellite view of Tahiti island. 
First stamp in a set of 3, issued on 18.03.2002.
Face value: 46 CFP francs.
Printing: Offset lithography.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 605.
- Scott No. 597.
- StampWorld No. 609.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 637.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 405.

French Polynesia is made up of 118 islands and atolls, of which 67 are inhabited. Tahiti (formerly known as Otaheite) is the most famous and most populated of the islands. Its territory is mountainous, of volcanic origin, surrounded by a coral reef and consists mainly of two pieces of land connected by the Isthmus of Taravao: Tahiti Nui (Greater Tahiti) and Tahiti Iti (Little Tahiti). The total area of ​​the island is 1,044 km² (403 sq mi) and its highest point is Mount Orohena, an extint volcano of 2,241 m (7,352 ft).
The first European to arrive in Tahiti was probably the Spanish explorer Juan Fernández on his 1576-1577 expedition; later, in the 18th century, the British and Spanish fought over the island, which was a Polynesian monarchy. In the mid-nineteenth century, it was the French who wanted to impose their law, which led to the Franco-Tahitian War (1844-1847), won by France, and finally, on June 29, 1880, King Pōmare V abdicated and Tahiti and its dependencies were ceded to France.