Motu One (Society Islands)

For Motu One in the Marquesas Islands, see Motu One (disambiguation).

NASA picture of Motu One Atoll.

Motu One, also known as Bellinghausen, is an atoll in the Leeward group of the Society Islands. Motu One is located 550 km northwest from Tahiti and 72 km northeast of Manuae, its closest neighbor.

Motu One's reef encloses totally a lagoon without a pass. All of its sides are covered with low, wooded sandy islands except for its southern side. Motu One means Sand Island in Polynesian, that is a low-lying, sandy islet that cannot sustain permanent human habitation.

History

The name Bellinghausen or more rarely Bellingshausen was given to this small atoll by the Baltic German navigator in Russian service Otto von Kotzebue in honour of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. It should not be confused with Bellingshausen Island, part of the South Sandwich Islands, in the southwest Atlantic.

Administration

Motu One Atoll is administratively part of the commune (municipality) of Maupiti, itself in the administrative subdivision of the Leeward Islands.

See also

• French Polynesia

External links

• (French) Atoll list
• Oceandots.com