View source for Maria Est

{{Short description|Atoll in French Polynesia}}
{{About|Maria Atoll in the [[Gambier Islands|Gambier Islands (French Polynesia)]]|the island in the [[Austral Islands|Austral Islands (French Polynesia)]]|Îles Maria}}
{{Infobox Islands
| name             = Maria Est
| image_name       = Maria Est.jpg
| image_caption    = [[NASA]] picture of Maria Est Atoll
| map = French Polynesia
| map_caption = 
| native_name      =
| native_name_link = 
| nickname         =
| location         = Pacific Ocean
| coordinates      = {{coord|22|01|S|136|11|W|type:isle_region:FR-PF|display=inline,title}}
| archipelago      = [[Tuamotus]]
| total_islands    = 
| major_islands    = 
| area_km2         = 7
| area_footnotes   =  {{sp}}(lagoon)<br />{{convert|3.75|km2|0|abbr=on}} ([[above sea level|above water]])
| length_km        = 5.6
| width_km         = 2.9
| highest_mount    = 
| elevation_m      = 
| country          = France
| country_admin_divisions_title     = [[Overseas collectivity]]
| country_admin_divisions           = [[French Polynesia]]
| country_admin_divisions_title_1   = [[French Polynesia#Administrative divisions|Administrative subdivision]]
| country_admin_divisions_1         = [[Îles Tuamotu-Gambier]]
| country_admin_divisions_title_2   = [[Communes of France|Commune]]
| country_admin_divisions_2         = [[Gambier (commune)|Gambier]]
| country_capital_city              = 
| country_largest_city              = 
| country_largest_city_population   =
| country_leader_title              =
| country_leader_name               =
| population       = Uninhabited<ref>{{cite web|title=Population|url=http://www.ispf.pf/bases/Recensements/2012/Donnees_detaillees.aspx|website=Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française|accessdate=6 October 2014}}</ref>
| population_as_of = 2012
| ethnic_groups    =
| additional_info  =
}}
'''Maria Atoll'''<ref name="Alternative Names">{{cite journal|last1=Young|first1=J.L.|title=Names of the Paumotu Islands, with the old names so far as they are known.|journal=Journal of the Polynesian Society|date=1899|volume=8|issue=4|pages=264–268|url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_8_1899/Volume_8,_No._4,_December_1899/Names_of_the_Paumotu_Islands,_by_J.L._Young,_p_264-268?action=null|accessdate=7 January 2015}}</ref> is an uninhabited small [[atoll]] of the [[Tuamotu]] group in [[French Polynesia]]. It is located in the far southeast of the [[archipelago]], about {{convert|72|km|0|abbr=on}} southwest from [[Marutea Sud]]. Maria's closest neighbour is the small atoll of [[Matureivavao]] of the  [[Acteon Group]], {{convert|56|km|0|abbr=on}} to the northwest.

Maria Atoll is oval in shape and bound by a continuous [[reef]]. It is 5.6&nbsp;km long and 2.9&nbsp;km wide. Its islands are low and flat and the lagoon is [[hypersaline lake|hypersaline]].

This atoll is mostly called "Maria Est" in order to avoid confusion with another small atoll called [[Îles Maria|Maria]] (Nororotu) in the [[Tubuai (Austral Islands)]] division of French Polynesia.

==History==
The first recorded European who arrived at Maria Est was {{ill|Jacques-Antoine Moerenhout|fr}} in 1829. On some maps, Maria Atoll appeared as "Moerenhout Island".<ref name="Alternative Names" /> 

==Administration==
Administratively, Maria Est belongs to the commune of the [[Gambier Islands]].

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20101223015139/http://www.oceandots.com/pacific/tuamotu/maria.php Oceandots]}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070520040828/http://jacbayle.club.fr/livres/Errances/Moerenhout.html Moerenhout, Jacques-Antoine. ''Voyages aux iles du grand Ocean'']
*[http://www.earthref.org/cgi-bin/sc.cgi?id=SMNT-220S-1362W Tuamotu Seamount Trail]

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070228115907/http://www.pacific-image.pf/pages/boutic/dboutic_cdrom_sp132.html Atoll list (in French)]

{{Tuamotus}}

[[Category:Atolls of the Tuamotus]]


{{FrenchPolynesia-geo-stub}}