Bora Bora, French Polynesia

Another 'Vacation RR' postcard! :D This is such a gorgeous view, too. I'd love to be on a beach like this at the moment. :P

French Polynesia is an overseas collectivity of the French Republic; collectivité d'outre-mer de la République française (COM), sometimes unofficially referred to as an overseas country; pays d'outre-mer (POM). It is composed of 118 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over an expanse of more than 2,000 kilometres in the South Pacific Ocean. Its total land area is 4,167 square kilometres.

French Polynesia is divided into 5 groups of islands: The Society Islands archipelago composed of the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands, the Tuamotu Archipelago, the Gambier Islands, the Marquesas Islands and the Austral Islands. Among its 118 islands and atolls, 67 are inhabited. Tahiti, which is located within the Society Islands, is the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the collectivity, Pape'ete. Although not an integral part of its territory, Clipperton Island was administered from French Polynesia until 2007.

The commune of Bora-Bora is made up of the island of Bora Bora proper with its surrounding islets emerging from the coral reef, 29.3 km2 in total, and of the atoll of Tupai 11 km2, located 20 kilometres north of Bora Bora. The atoll of Tupai has no permanent population apart from some workers in the coconut plantations.

Bora Bora, French Polynesia

My last card for today comes from a very far away place: French Polynesia. It was a swap with Magali - who claims the water is too fresh for her so she won't go to the beach! Personally I'd love to be on that beach at the moment, it looks so refreshing and seems like a paradise.



Bora Bora is an island in the Leeward group of the Society Islands of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the Pacific Ocean. The island, located about 230 kilometres northwest of Papeete, is surrounded by a lagoon and a barrier reef. In the center of the island are the remnants of an extinct volcano rising to two peaks, Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu, the highest point at 727 metres.

The major settlement, Vaitape is on the western side of the island, opposite the main channel into the lagoon. The products of the island are mostly limited to what can be obtained from the sea and coconut trees, which were historically of economic importance for copra. During the August 2007 census, the population on the island was about 8,880 people.

Today the island is mainly dependent on tourism. Over the last few years several resorts have been built on motu (small islands) surrounding the lagoon. Thirty years ago, Hotel Bora Bora built the first over-the-water bungalows on stilts over the lagoon and today, overwater bungalows are a standard feature of most Bora Bora resorts.



The stamp on the right was issued in 2007 for the celebration of Chinese New Year, that year's subject being Year of the Pig. The stamp on the right is from a set of 4 stamps issued in 2008, representing Marine Fauna. This one shows the Ray (Himantura fai).