FRENCH POLYNESIA

FRENCH POLYNESIA / POLYNÉSIE FRANÇAISE - PŌRĪNETIA FARĀNI.

Landscapes. Ua Pou Island.
Second stamp in a set of 3, issued on 27.09.2011.
Face value: 100 CFP francs.
Photo: Philippe Bacchet.
Printing: Offset lithohtaphy.
Print: 100,000 copies.
Size: 40 x 30 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 1158.
- Scott No. 1060.
- StampWorld No. 1161.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1209.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 958.

Ua Pou or Uapou is an island in the Marquesas archipelago. Its surface area is 105.6 km² (40.8 sq mi), its length 28 km (17.4 mi), and its maximum width 25 km (15.53 mi). It is pyramidal in shape and characterized by his basaltic pillars: Matahenua, 1,028 m (3,378 ft), Pouakei, 1,023 m (3,356 ft), and Oave, 1,230 m (4,035 ft). The people of the island (2,300 in 2017) are known for their skills as artisans, sculptors and tattoo artists, and also as traditional singers and dancers.

FRENCH OCEANIA

FRENCH OCEANIA / ÉTABLISSEMENTS DE L'OCÉANIE (French Polynesia).

Definitiva stamps.
Fautaua Valley (Island of Tahiti).
Stamp issued in 1913.
Face value: 2 French francs.
Design from a photography: Henri Lamasson (1870-1956).
Printing: Typography.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 39.
- Scott No. 53.
- StampWorld No. 36.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 35.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 36.

Fautaua (Fautau’a, Fataoua, Fatahua) Valley is a river valley on the island of Tahiti, in French Polynesia. It is located near the capital of Papeete. The Fautaua River flows through it, eventually cascading down the mountainside as the Fautaua Falls almost 300 metres (980 ft) into a shallow bathing pool called Loti Bain, named for the French writer Pierre Loti, who lived in the area for some time. The falls are also known as Fachoda Falls, after Fort Fachoda, a ruined fort found at the top of the falls.

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.