French Polynesia  is an overseas collectivity of France comprising of 121 islands and atolls stretching across more than 1200 miles, occupying 3.8 million EEZ square miles.  Thus FP has 84% of the French EEZ.  The USA has around 4 million square miles of EEZ.   France  has 4.5 million square miles, where, with 0.45% of the world's land surface, their EEZ covers 9% of all the world EEZ area.   FP has a total population of 278,786, and their land area is divided into five groups of islands:  Society Islands, Tuamotu Archipelago, Gambier Islands, Marquesas Islands and Austral Islands.  75 of their islands and atolls are inhabitated.  The Society Islands group has 69% of the population.  The capital is Tahiti.  France took over those islands in 1842, but has called this area French Polynesia only since 1957. About some earlier history. The Great Polynesian Migration commenced around 1500 BC. The Marquesas were settled around 200 BC. The Society Islands around AD 300. European encount

  We have docked at Uturoa, Raiatea, French Polynesia.  Woke up to take this photo from my veranda. We will be in this general area for nearly a week, so later this week I'll provide details about this region, which has an Exclusive Economic Zone Area of 1.7 million square miles.  The  Hawaii EEZ , including all those northern islands, is only 0.6 million square miles. So what's the big deal about the Exclusive Economic Zone?  Some day, perhaps seabed mining and other ocean development rights, like the Blue Revolution, will be affected. On this sci-tech Wednesday, I will continue my monthly tally of latest energy news, mostly from  Energy Matters , soundbite summaries of the American Energy Society, ending with an article describing Hawaii's attempt to become a national hydrogen hub. Conventional wisdom: US crude oil production will continue to   increase  for the foreseeable future, surpassing the record high of 12.44 million bpd by the end of 2023. However... Economy-wide