This was one of the last atolls in the archipelago to be discovered by a European navigator (Fitz Roy, on board the Beagle in 1935).

• This is one of the Central Tuamotu atolls. It is situated 15°50' south and 145°07' west, and is separated from Fakareva by ocean straits 40 km wide.

• This is a very low, practically circular atoll 24 km in diameter.

• A passage on the south-west coast links the lagoon to the open sea.

• The main village is Tearavero.

Its 699 inhabitants (according to the 1996 census) make their living mainly from copra and pearl farming.

From :

Ministère des Archipels (1998), Les Tuamotu Gambier : recueil de données essentielles, décembre 1998, Service de l'administration et du développement des archipels, PAPEETE.

Norman&Ngaire, Douglas (1994), Pacific Islands Yearbook, 17° édition, Fiji Times Ltd, 767p.