Page 30 - French Polynesia
P. 30
Key Historical Dates and Events
1977: France grants partial internal autonomy to French Polynesia.
1984: French Polynesia is given “internal autonomy”: a directly elected legislature, with control over local affairs, is
headed by a High Commissioner representing the French Republic, who is in charge of relations, justice, defense and
currency.
1987: The Université française du Pacifique is established.
1992: French President Mitterrand suspends nuclear testing.
1995: French President Chirac resumes underground nuclear testing.
1996: France concludes nuclear testing and begins closing the testing facilities in the Tuamotus.
2007: Researchers from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill reported that coral coverage in the Indo-
Pacific, an area stretching from Indonesia’s Sumatra island to French Polynesia, had dropped 20 percent in the past
two decades. They said the decline was driven by climate change, disease and coastal development.
