The islands and coral atolls of French Polynesia, located in the southern Pacific Ocean, epitomize the idea of tropical paradise: white sandy beaches, turquoise lagoons, and palm trees.
Published Jul 14, 2009
This astronaut photograph shows Mataiva Atoll, the westernmost atoll of the Tuamotu Archipelago.
Published Aug 30, 2010
The only atoll in the South Atlantic Ocean is part of Brazil’s Fernando de Noronha archipelago.
Published Feb 29, 2020
he Republic of Kiribati is an island nation consisting of some 33 atolls near the equator in the central Pacific. Before Europeans found the islands, they had been inhabited for two millennia by indigenous Micronesians. In 1820, the British named the islands the Gilbert Islands, after Captain Thomas Gilbert, who discovered some of the atolls in 1788. The islands eventually gained their independence in the 1970s.
Published Dec 29, 2005
The ring shape is the result of coral reefs building up around a former volcanic island in the South Pacific.
Published Apr 6, 2009
This astronaut photograph depicts Apataki Atoll, an atoll in the Tuamotu Islands in the south Pacific. Atolls are ring-like coral islands that nearly or entirely enclose a lagoon. The atoll traces the perimeter of what was once the coastline of a volcanic island. In 1722, Dutch navigator Jakob Roggeveen became the first European to see the Apataki Atoll. It was later visited by Captain Cook in 1774.
Published Mar 6, 2006
One of the larger islands in the remote Cook Island chain of the Central Pacific has the classic features of a coral atoll.
Published Nov 9, 2015
This astronaut photograph shows Tetiaroa Island, part of the Society Islands archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean. Tetiaroa is an atoll comprised of thirteen small islets.
Published Feb 16, 2009
