Aukena

Aukena
View of Aukena from Mangareva
Aukena is located in French Polynesia
Aukena
Aukena
Geography
LocationPacific Ocean
Coordinates23°06′42″S 134°54′01″W / 23.11167°S 134.90028°W / -23.11167; -134.90028
ArchipelagoTuamotus
Area1.35 km2 (0.52 sq mi)
Length2.5 km (1.55 mi)
Width0.5 km (0.31 mi)
Highest elevation198 m (650 ft)
Highest point(unnamed)
Administration
France
Overseas collectivityFrench Polynesia
Administrative subdivisionÎles Tuamotu-Gambier
CommuneGambier
Demographics
Population40[1] (2012)
Pop. density30/km2 (80/sq mi)

Aukena is the 5th largest of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. Aukena is located about halfway between Mangareva and Akamaru, or about 5 km southeast of Mangareva, which is the largest island of the whole Gambier Islands archipelago. Aukena is approximately 2.5 km long and about 0.5 km wide, with a total area of 1.35 km2.

Mangarevan oral tradition first mentions the island in the fourteenth century, and archeological excavations show that it has been inhabited since that time.[2]

  1. ^ "Population". Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  2. ^ Green, Roger C.; Weisler, Marshall I. (2002). "The Mangarevan Sequence and Dating of the Geographic Expansion into Southeast Polynesia". Asian Perspectives. 41 (2): 225–229. Retrieved 20 December 2022.