French Polynésie Française formerly French Oceania
French overseas territory (pop., 2002 est.: 242,000), in the southern Pacific Ocean.
French Polynesia has an area of some 1,550 sq mi (4,000 sq km), comprising 130 islands in five archipelagoes: the Society Islands , the Tuamotu Archipelago , the Gambier Islands , the Marquesas Islands , and the Austral Islands . Tahiti , in the Society group, is the largest island and the site of the capital, Papeete . More than two-thirds of the population of French Polynesia lives on Tahiti. The islands became French protectorates in the 1840s, and in the 1880s the French colony of Oceania was established. It became an overseas territory of France after World War II and was granted partial autonomy in 1977.