Faaite

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Faaite

NASA picture of Faaite Atoll
Faaite
Geography
Location	Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	16°43′S 145°19′W / 16.717°S 145.317°W / -16.717; -145.317
Archipelago	Tuamotus
Area	227 km2 (88 sq mi)  (lagoon) 8.87 km2 (3.42 sq mi) (above water)
Length	28 km (17.4 mi)
Width	10.5 km (6.52 mi)
Administration
France
Overseas collectivity	French Polynesia
Administrative subdivision	Tuamotus
Commune	Anaa
Largest settlement	Hitianau (pop. 246)
Demographics
Population	440[1] (2022)
Pop. density	50/km2 (130/sq mi)

Faaite, or Faaiti^[2] is an atoll of the Tuamotus in French Polynesia. It is located 60 kilometres (37 miles) to the north of Anaa Atoll. The total surface of the atoll is 227 square kilometres (88 square miles) Its dry land area is 8.87 square kilometres (3.42 square miles). Its length is 28 kilometres (17 miles) and its width 10.5 kilometres (6.5 miles). The total population as of 2022^[update] is 440 inhabitants.

Faaite's inner lagoon has a navigable channel to the ocean. The main village is Hitianau, with a total population of 246.

The first recorded sighting of the atoll by Europeans was by the Spanish expedition of Pedro Fernández de Quirós on 11 February 1606. It was charted as Decena (ten in Spanish).^[3] John Turnbull rediscovered it in 1802. Turnbull was the first retailer of the Pacific who used the route of Tahiti to Hawaii. Russian oceanic explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen visited Faaite in 1820 on the ships Vostok and Mirni. He named this atoll "Miloradovich".

From September 2 to September 4, 1987, the population experienced a collective hysteria incited by a religious leader from the "Charismatic Renewal" who convinced the locals the island was inhabited by the Devil. Six islanders were thrown into a fire and burned alive in an exorcism frenzy.^[4][5]

Administratively Faaite belongs to the commune of Anaa, which includes the inhabited atoll of Faaite and the uninhabited atolls of Tahanea and Motutunga.

The island is connected to the world via Faaite Airport.

• Bruno Saura, Les bûchers de Faaite: paganisme ancestral ou dérapage chrétien en Polynésie française, Cobalt/Editions de l'après midi. Paris 1990

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