Moorea

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Moorea

Moorea Rolfe is a synonym of the orchid genus Neomoorea
Neomoorea

Neomoorea is a genus of orchids native to Panama and northern Colombia....
.

Moorea is a high island

High Island

High Island may refer to:...
in French Polynesia

French Polynesia

French Polynesia is a France overseas collectivity in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory ....
, part of the Society Islands

Society Islands

The Society Islands are a group of islands in the south Pacific Ocean. They are an administrative part of French Polynesia. The archipelago is generally believed to have been named by Captain James Cook in honor of the Royal Society, the sponsor of the first British scientific survey of the islands; however, Cook states in his journal th...
, 17 km (roughly 9mi) northwest of Tahiti

Tahiti

O Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward Islands group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean....
.

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Encyclopedia

Moorea Rolfe is a synonym of the orchid genus Neomoorea
Neomoorea

Neomoorea is a genus of orchids native to Panama and northern Colombia....
.

Moorea is a high island

High Island

High Island may refer to:...
in French Polynesia

French Polynesia

Society Islands

Tahiti

O Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward Islands group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean....
. Its position is . Moorea means "yellow lizard" in Tahitian

Tahitian language

Tahitian, a Tahitic languages, is one of the two official languages of French Polynesia . It is an Eastern Polynesian language closely related to Rarotongan language, Maori language, and Hawaiian language....
. An older name for the island is Aimeho, sometimes spelled Aimeo or Eimeo (among other spellings misunderstood by early visitors with no knowledge of the language). Early Western colonists and voyagers also referred to Moorea as York Island.

Transportation

Several ferries go to the Vaiare wharf in Moorea daily from Papeete

Papeete

Papeete is the Capital of French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The commune in France of Papeete is located on the island of Tahiti, in the French Polynesia#Administrative divisions of the Windward Islands , of which Papeete is the administrative capital....
, the Tahitian capital. Moorea's Temae Airport (MOZ) has connections to the international airport in Papeete and onward to other Society Islands.

Politics

The island is administratively part of the commune (municipality) of Moorea-Maiao

Moorea-Maiao

Moorea-Maiao is a commune in France of French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The commune is in the French Polynesia#Administrative divisions of the Windward Islands ....
, itself in the administrative subdivision

French Polynesia

Windward Islands (Society Islands)

The Windward Islands are the eastern group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southern Pacific Ocean....
. The main village is Afareaitu .

Tourism

Because of its stunning scenery and accessibility to Papeete, Moorea is visited by many western tourists who travel to French Polynesia. Especially popular as a honeymoon

Honeymoon

A honeymoon is the traditional holiday taken by newlyweds to celebrate their marriage in intimacy and seclusion. Today, honeymoons by Westerners are sometimes celebrated somewhere exotic or otherwise considered special and romance ....
destination, Moorea can often be seen in advertisements in American wedding magazines.

Physical description

From above, the shape of the island vaguely resembles a fork, with its two nearly symmetrical bays opening to the north side of the island: Cook's (or Paopao) Bay and Oponohu Bay. The island was formed as a volcano 1.5 to 2.5 million years ago, the result of a geologic hotspot

Hotspot (geology)

In geology, a hotspot is a location on the Earth's surface that has experienced active volcano for a long period of time. J. Tuzo Wilson came up with the idea in 1963 that volcanic chains like the Hawaiian Islands result from the slow movement of a tectonic plate across a "fixed" hot spot deep beneath the surface of the planet....
in the mantle under the oceanic plate that formed the whole of the Society Archipelago. It is theorized that the current bays were formerly river basins that filled during the Holocene searise.

History

Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin Royal Society was an English people natural history who realised and presented compelling evidence that all species of life have evolution over time from common descent, through the process he called natural selection....
was inspired for his theory regarding the formation of coral atolls when looking down upon Moorea standing on a peak on Tahiti. He described it as a "picture in a frame," referring to the barrier reef

Barrier reef

Barrier reef can refer to:*a coral reef,*the Great Barrier Reef in Australia,*the Belize Barrier Reef,*the New Caledonia Barrier Reef,*Barrier Reef , an Australian television series....
encircling the island.

Don the Beachcomber

Don the Beachcomber

Donn Beach is the acknowledged founding father of Tiki bar restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. The many so-called "Polynesian" restaurants and public house that enjoyed great popularity are directly descended from what he created....
lived here for some time until his houseboat

Houseboat

A houseboat is a temporary or permanent dwelling, able to float upon water. Generally, houseboats are tethered to land to provide utilities, but are often capable of operation under their own power....
was destroyed by tropical cyclone

Tropical cyclone

A tropical cyclone is a storm characterized by a large low pressure system center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and flooding rain....
s.

Research facilities

The University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley is a public university research university located in Berkeley, California, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines....
maintains the on the west coast of Cook's Bay. The Gump station is also home to the (MCR LTER). The project, funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), is a partnership between the University of California Santa Barbara and California State University, Northridge that includes additional researchers from UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego and the University of Hawaii. The Moorea Coral Reef LTER is part of the . The LTER Program was established by the NSF in 1980 to support research on long-term ecological phenomena. The Moorea Coral Reef LTER became the 26th site in the LTER network in September 2004.

Moorea

Transportation

Politics

Tourism

Physical description

History

Research facilities

See also

External links