Visiting these islands is a special experience. The lure of these islands is not only due to the hospitable Polynesian people, and their spectacularly beautiful islands. There is real ambiance here - from the warmth of the air, scented heavily with tropical flowers through to fiery romantic sunsets that signal the end of another fabulous Tahitian day. The 118 islands of French Polynesia were born from volcanoes some 20 million years ago. The islands in the Society, Marquesas, Austral and Gambier Island groups remained high islands, while the islands of the Tuamotu Islands group became atolls.
Atolls are islands that have long since sunk below the ocean surface, leaving only the barrier reef.
The total land area of the islands is equivalent to the total area of Europe. The remoteness of the islands of Polynesia kept the people insulated from the rest of the world until European world travel began in the 1700's. Polynesian origins are believed to be in the area of Southeast Asia, more precisely the eastern are of Indonesia or the Phillipines some 4,000 years ago. The early Polynesians were master navigators. Their migrations took them through Melanesia to the eastern edge of Polynesia.