Atoll in French Polynesia
Motu One , also known as Bellinghausen , is an atoll in the Leeward group of the Society Islands , in the South Pacific . 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 Sand Island in Tahitian , that is a low-lying, sandy islet that cannot sustain permanent human habitation.
History
The name Atoll Bellinghausen or more rarely Bellingshausen was given to this small atoll by Otto von Kotzebue , an officer and navigator of Baltic German descent in the Imperial Russian Navy , 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 .
The atoll was visited by the US Exploring Expedition in Sept. 1839.[ 1]
Administration
Motu One Atoll is administratively part of the commune (municipality) of Maupiti , itself in the administrative subdivision of the Leeward Islands .
See also
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