Palliser Islands

The Palliser Islands are a subgroup of the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia, made up of nine atolls, Apataki, Arutua, Fakarava, Kaukura, Mataiva, Rangiroa, Makatea, Tikehau and Toau, occupying the northwestern part of the Tuamotu chain in the Pacific Ocean. About 6,777 people live across the group, organized into the three communes of Arutua, Fakarava and Rangiroa. Captain James Cook was the first European to sight the islands, on 19 and 20 April 1774, and he named them Palliser's Isles after Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser.