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Please note: political information is under review following a change of government on 15 April 2008
Official Name - French Polynesia (la Polynésie Française)
Land Area - Total: 4,176 sq km (118 islands and atolls in five archipelagos) Land: 3,660 sq km Water: 507 sq km EEZ: 5.03 million sq km
Population - 270,485 (July 2005 est)
Ethnic Groups - Polynesian 78%, Chinese 12%, local French 6%, metropolitan French 4%
Capital City - Papeete
Religion - Protestant 54%, Roman Catholic 30%, Other 16%
Official Languages - French (official) and Tahitian (official)
Political system - French Polynesia has been an “Overseas Territory of France” since 1946. Following the passage of the French Polynesia’s Statute of Autonomy in 1984, however, French Polynesia has enjoyed enhanced self-governing status within the French Republic. Under the March 2004 new autonomy statute, French Polynesia became an “overseas country” of France with increased domestic and international autonomy. The term “pays d’Outre mer” is used.
National government - The Government of French Polynesia consists of
a 16-member executive known as the Council of Ministers. This body is
appointed by the President of the Government, who in turn is elected by
a majority vote of all the councillors in the Assembly of French Polynesia.
The President’s term of office is 5 years.
National legislature - The 57 councillors of the Assembly of French Polynesia are elected by universal suffrage for a 5-year term. They are elected by proportional representation from the five French Polynesian archipelagoes. Under the ‘majority bonus’ system, the party that secures the most votes in a particular electorate gets an extra 30 percent of the seats in that constituency. President of the Assembly is Philip Schyle. As it remains part of France, French Polynesia is also represented in the French National Assembly by two elected Deputies (Michel Buillard and Bruno Sandras) and a Senator in the French Parliament (Gaston Flosse).
Next election - To be advised
Head of State - President of the French Republic: HE Nicolas Sarkozy. Within the French Government, responsibility for French Polynesia lies with the Minister for Overseas Territories in Paris, Michèle Alliot-Marie. France is represented in Papeete by High Commissioner, Mrs Anne Boquet.
Head of Government - President of French Polynesia: HE Gaston Tong Sang
Main political parties - The two main political parties in French Polynesia are the pro-independence Union pour la Democratie (UPLD) coalition led by Oscar Temaru and the pro-autonomy Tahoera’a Huira’atira Party led by Gaston Flosse. President Tong Sang leads the To Tatou Ai'a coalition. Alliance pour une Democratie Nouvelle (ADN) is a new centrist party formed by Nicole Bouteau (No oe o Te Nunaa paerty) and Philip Schyle (Fetia Api Party).
GDP - US$4.58 billion (2003 est)
GDP per capita - US$17,500 (2006 est)
GDP growth rate - 5.1% (2002)
Exports (FOB) - US$211 million (2005 est)
Imports (CIF) - US$1.706 billion (2005 est)
Main exports - Unmounted pearls and pearl jewellery
Inflation - 2.5% (2007 est)
NZ Exports (FOB) - NZ$158.38 million (for year ended December 2005)
Main Exports - Meat fresh and frozen, Dairy products, Iron and steel, Cement products, Aluminium, Sugar
NZ Imports (CIF) - NZ$3.0696 million (for year ended December 2005)
Main Imports - Black pearls, Coconut Oil
The earliest Polynesian settlers arrived in French Polynesia around AD300 in the Marquesas Islands. By AD 800, Polynesian migration had led to settlement of the Society Islands. During the period before European contact, these groups established a structured hierarchy of hereditary tribal chiefs with no dominant tribal groups.
Spanish navigators were the first Europeans to explore the Marquesas Islands in 1595. However, it was not until the arrival of English explorer Samuel Wallis on 18 June 1767 that contact between Europeans and Polynesians was finally established in Tahiti. The following year the French navigator Louis-Antoine de Bougainville arrived in Tahiti and claimed it for France. For the next 70 years Great Britain and France vied for influence over the islands, sending in missionaries and exploring vessels. Eventually, Tahiti became the first island in the Pacific to come under the control of a foreign power and was made a French Protectorate in November 1842. The French Protectorate continued until 1880 when King Pomare V abdicated and a French colony was proclaimed. By 1901 the French colony in Tahiti incorporated all of the Society Islands as well as the Marquesas Islands, Austral Islands, and the Tuamotu Archipelago.
Following the end of the Second World War, indigenous nationalism began to develop under the leadership of Pouvana’a a Oopa. With the support of war veterans, Pouvana’a pressed for equal rights for Polynesians under French law. In 1945 all Tahitians were granted French citizenship. The French Government also established the first territorial assembly in 1946 with 30 elected members. In July 1957 the territory was reconstituted “French Polynesia”, broadening the assembly’s responsibilities and creating a government council of 6-8 ministers. Pouvana’a became vice-president and his party Comité Pouvana’a began campaigning for independence. With Charles de Gaulle’s accession to the French Presidency, a referendum on secession was held in all French territories in September 1958. The popular majority voted to remain with France. An edict passed by the French Parliament in December 1958 rolled back the autonomous powers granted to French Polynesia the previous year and restored full powers to the French Governor. Pouvana’a went to prison in exile.
Francis Sanford and John Teariki were the next major historical figures to demand greater autonomy and self-government for French Polynesia. They were also opposed to the French nuclear testing programme in the Pacific. Following a series of nationalist protests in the 1970s, the French Parliament approved a new statute in 1977 and returned French Polynesia to an organisational structure resembling 1957. The French Governor became a High Commissioner and Sanford became the vice-president of the new government council in July 1977. From the 1970s Oscar Temaru, leader of the Tavini Huira’atira Party, was the leading voice of the independence movement.
In 1984 French Polynesia’s powers of self-government were enhanced by the passage of the Statute of Autonomy. This allowed French Polynesia to have its own flag and anthem alongside the emblems of the French Republic. The President also acquired chief executive powers and new areas of responsibility. The regulatory powers of the Council of Ministers were extended as well. Since 1984 French Polynesia has celebrated Autonomy Day on 29 June, although the date is not without controversy, being also that of French Polynesia’s annexation by France.
Further revisions were made to the Statute in April 1996, transferring additional responsibilities over to French Polynesia (e.g. territorial budget, health, primary education, social welfare, public works, agriculture) as well as a greater say over external trade, international airline and shipping links, exploitation of lagoon and EEZ marine resources, and the possibility of negotiating specified regional or international agreements.
French President Jacques Chirac signed off French Polynesia’s new autonomy statute on 27 February 2004. The Statute gives French Polynesia increased autonomy from France in a number of domestic government areas such as employment, some aspects of land ownership and commercial rights. It also grants more autonomy in the international arena, for example, French Polynesia can now open representational offices (without diplomatic status) in the Asia-Pacific region and conduct economic negotiations including international aviation agreements. France continues to control key state competencies such as law and order, security and defence, and finance. French Polynesia remains firmly within the French Republic. The new statute makes reference to French Polynesia as an “overseas country” of France as well as being a “territory” or a “collectivity” of France.
The May 2004 elections were a turning point for French Polynesian politics. Pro-independence leader Oscar Temaru’s Union for Democracy (UPD) formed a coalition with two pro-autonomy parties led by Philip Schyle and Nicole Bouteau and Temaru was elected President, ending former President Gaston Flosse’s nearly 20-year rule. Just four months later Flosse regained the presidency after two members of Temaru’s coalition switched their allegiance. Months of political upheaval and legal/constitutional wrangling followed, with both men claiming the presidency. Overseas Minister Brigette Giardin finally called the parties to France to hold talks aimed at resolving the impasse. The parties agreed to by-elections in the Windward Isles after the French Council of State upheld Flosse’s claim of election “irregularities” (Temaru’s colours adorned some voting stations). Temaru’s new UPLD coalition won the by-elections in the Windward Isles on 14 February - securing the same number of seats in the Assembly as Gaston Flosse’s Tahoeraa party. Temaru was elected President shortly afterwards by a one vote majority.
In December 2006, a motion-of-no-confidence led by the centrist pro-autonomy/pro-France Tahoera’a Huira’atira Party and headed by former President, Gaston Flosse, succeeded in overthrowing Oscar Temaru and his UPLD coalition. His replacement, Bora Bora Mayor and Tahoera’a Huira’atira Party member, Gaston Tong Sang, won 31 of the 57 votes and brought with him the a new era of pro-France/pro-autonomy centrist politics.
On 24 January 2007, the French National Assembly voted to restore French Polynesia’s electoral system so that seats are allocated in proportion to votes received.
While French Polynesia can vote at any time on independence, the December 2007 elections signalled that a vote for independence is unlikely to occur within the next 15 or 20 years.
French Polynesia’s economy is characterised by a narrow export base and a dependency on French financial aid (of approximately 35% of GDP). The high reliance on France as a critical source of income has created a high cost of living (with a growing income disparity), an inflated public sector, high wage costs and a decline in primary production. In latter years, the French nuclear testing centre alone provided over 12% of local employment, 55% of the funding inflow, 28% of imports and 22% of GDP. However, with the end of nuclear testing in 1996, military transfer payments have declined gradually.
To ease the reduced inflow of French funds, France committed to providing a ten-year funding package of NZ$321 million a year until 2005, calculated to compensate the Territory for testing-related spending and targeted at encouraging greater economic self-sufficiency. This French aid package was in addition to the 1994-2006 Pact of Progress (NZ$1 billion in the first five years), designed to compensate for the earlier 1992-1995 testing moratorium. A renewed “Reconversion Fund” was signed in October 2002 by Prime Minister Raffarin and President Flosse, continuing indefinitely the transfer of 150 million euros per annum to French Polynesia.
French Polynesia’s local productive capacity is small. As a result, French Polynesia imports approximately eight times as much as it exports (2005 figures) with over 52% of imports originating from France. Exports are made up by black pearls, fish, noni juice, fishing boats and coconut oil, with smaller quantities of shells, cosmetics, vanilla, and handicrafts. The tourism industry is another significant source of revenue and employment for French Polynesia. There has been good investment in recent years in new hotel construction, new cruise ships and Tahiti’s own international airline, Air Tahiti Nui. However, French Polynesia’s tourist industry has suffered from the general worldwide recession in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the United States, the war in Iraq and SARS. In October 2006 French Polynesia hosted the South Pacific Tourism Organisation annual conference.
French Polynesia’s economy enjoyed consistent growth from 1997 until the events of 11 September. Following the end of nuclear testing in 1996, the Government implemented an economic development strategy designed to increase the country’s self-sufficiency focusing on tourism, pearl farming and fishing. In 1999 a new value-added tax was introduced with greater spending on public infrastructure and youth employment programmes. Following his election in December 2006, new President, Gaston Tong Sang, committed to increase economic growth and development. He also proposed to re-orientate the December 2006 budget so that it relaunched major construction works in a bid to stimulate employment and economic growth, and control public sector spending. He similarly undertook to improve productivity in the primary sector, boost tourism and tackle the high cost of living – results of which as yet to bee seen.
In June 1996, France ended thirty years of nuclear testing in the atolls of Mururoa and Fangataufa. The testing sites have since been dismantled, the surrounding military structure disbanded, and only a small contingent remains stationed on Mururoa for purposes of radiological monitoring.
Under the French Constitution, France is responsible for conducting foreign relations on behalf of French Polynesia. France represents French Polynesia in international bodies such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
However, French Polynesia’s regional links in the Pacific have been growing in recent years to reflect its constitutional status as an autonomous territory. French Polynesia has separate representation in the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and in 1999 hosted the SPC Conference. It is an associate member of ESCAP and the Pacific Islands Forum (from 2006). It is also eligible for benefits under the EU/ACP successor agreement to Lome IV Convention signed in Cotonou, Benin in June 2000. French Polynesia participates in the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), regional fisheries bodies and is a member of the Pacific Islands Development Programme - as well as being as associate member of the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC).top of page
NZAID manages a modest programme of assistance, totalling NZ$665,000, to French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna. The programme provides short-term training in New Zealand with the objective of enhancing equitable social and economic development in the territories. The awards are focused towards disadvantaged young indigenous people living in the regions and provinces, and covers English language training, technical courses and/or work attachments.
New Zealand has close indigenous cultural links with French Polynesia. The French Polynesian island of Raiatea is considered by tradition to be one of the main islands from where the original Maori arrived in New Zealand. The area that is now French Polynesia is the wellspring of Maori language and possesses a close linguistic association with contemporary spoken Maori.
French Polynesia is New Zealand’s second largest market in the Pacific. Exports for the year ended December 2005 totalled more than NZ$158 million made up mainly of Meat fresh and frozen, dairy products, iron and steel, aluminium and cement products. New Zealand imports from French Polynesia in the same year came to just under NZ$3 million consisting mainly of black pearls and coconut oil. French Polynesian exports are modest because, despite New Zealand’s low tariff regime and free marketing advice available to French Polynesian exporters via the Pacific Islands Trade and Investment Commission, high production costs, and irregular and limited supply make them uncompetitive.
The Safetravel website provides a travel advisory for travellers to French Polynesia [external link].
