French Polynesia

French Polynesia (French: Polynésie française, Tahitian: Pōrīnetia Farāni) is a French 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 (Papeete). Although not an integral part of its territory, Clipperton Island was administered from French Polynesia until 2007.

The population is just over 260,000.

The capital is Papeete - on the island of Tahiti, the largest and most populated.

The currency is the CFP franc - not the euro.

French is the official language of French Polynesia. A law of 1996 states that "French is the official language, Tahitian and other Polynesian languages can be used." At the 2007 census, among the population of 15 and older, 68% of people reported that the language they speak the most at home is French.

Geography and administration

This is complex. The islands of French Polynesia have a total land area of 4,167 square kilometres (1,622 sq. mi) scattered over 2,500,000 square kilometres (965,255 sq. mi) of ocean. There are around 130 islands, in four groups The island groups are:

• Austral Islands, including the Bass Islands (sometimes considered as a separate group), one administrative subdivision
• Marquesas Islands, an administrative subdivision
• Society Islands (including Tahiti) - divided into the two administrative (and geographical) subdivisions, the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands
• Tuamotu Archipelago plus the Gambier Islands (sometimes considered as a separate group), one administrative subdivision

Aside from Tahiti, some other important atolls, islands, and island groups in French Polynesia are: Ahe, Bora Bora, Hiva `Oa, Huahine, Maiao, Maupiti, Mehetia, Moorea, Nuku Hiva, Raiatea, Tahaa, Tetiaroa, Tubuai, and Tupai.

Education

There is no Wikipedia page on Education in French Polynesia (though there is a Category). However, the page http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/489/French-Polynesia.html notes that:

Children generally start school at age 5 and complete primary education by age 12. The ages of compulsory education are 6 through 16. Tahiti has a literacy rate of 98 percent. On some of the smaller islands though, the dropout rate is extremely high, with only 20 percent or fewer students even finishing elementary school.

All school instruction is in French. French Polynesia has the same educational system as France, but it is altered slightly to conform with needs specific to the territories. Additionally, public education is financed through the government, which also subsidizes some private schools that are operated by churches

Higher Education

(sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_French_Polynesia)

The Université de la Polynésie Française (University of French Polynesia) is the only one in French Polynesia.

Université de la Polynésie Française

Located in Tahiti, this is a small university with around 2,000 students.

The university dates back to 1987 when the Université Française du Pacifique (French University of the Pacific) was created, with two centres, one in French Polynesia and the other in New Caledonia. In 1997 the decision was made to split the two parts into separate universities, and so it came about that in 1999 the Université de la Polynésie Française and the Université de la Nouvelle Calédonie were formed.

There are signifiers of a reasonable level of ICT - in particular WiFi, webmail, RSS and a Facebook page for the university.

Distance learning

In addition, the page http://www.upf.pf/-E-learning-services-.html describes (in French) its distance learning operation, using the open source system DOKEOS to deliver a Campus Numérique called Espa@don (http://www.espadon.pf).

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