Mururoa Atoll
NASA picture of Moruroa Atoll
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 Moruroa
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Pacific Ocean |
| Coordinates | 21°50′S 138°50′W / 21.833°S 138.833°WCoordinates: 21°50′S 138°50′W / 21.833°S 138.833°W |
| Archipelago | Tuamotus |
| Area | 148 km2 (57 sq mi) (lagoon) 15 km2 (5.8 sq mi) (above water) |
| Length | 28 km (17.4 mi) |
| Width | 11 km (6.8 mi) |
| Administration | |
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France
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| Overseas collectivity | French Polynesia |
| Administrative subdivision | Tuamotus |
| Commune | Tureia |
| Demographics | |
| Population | Uninhabited (2012) |
Moruroa (Mururoa, Mururura), also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is located about 1,250 kilometres (780 mi) southeast of Tahiti. Administratively Moruroa Atoll is part of the commune of Tureia, which includes the atolls of Tureia, Fangataufa, Tematangi and Vanavana. France undertook nuclear weapon tests between 1966 and 1996 at Moruroa and Fangataufa, causing international protests, notably in 1974 and 1995. The number of tests performed have been variously reported as 175 and 181.
Even though ancient Polynesians knew Mururoa Atoll by the ancestral name of Hiti-Tautau-Mai, there is no firm historical evidence that it has been permanently inhabited.
The first recorded European to visit this atoll was Commander Philip Carteret on HMS Swallow in 1767, just a few days after he had discovered Pitcairn Island. Carteret named Mururoa "Bishop of Osnaburgh Island". In 1792, the British whaler Matilda was wrecked here, and it became known as Matilda's Rocks.Frederick William Beechey visited it in 1826.
Mururoa, and its sister atoll Fangataufa, were the site of extensive nuclear testing by France between 1966 and 1996, as well as the site of numerous protests by various vessels, including the Rainbow Warrior. The atoll was officially established as a nuclear test site by France on September 21, 1962, when the Direction des Centres d'Experimentation Nucleaires (DIRCEN) was established to administer the nuclear testing. This followed with the construction of various infrastructures on the atoll commencing in May 1963. The atoll of Hao, 245 nautical miles (450 km; 280 mi) to the north-west of Mururoa, was chosen as a support base for the nuclear tests and other operations.
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