They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extending (from northwest to southeast) over an area roughly the size of Western Europe.

[9] On the islands of Rangiroa, Manihi and Mataiva, there are flat ceremonial platforms (called marae) made of coral blocks, although their exact age is unknown.

By the late 19th century, traders had begun offering pearls from the islands for sale in Europe, and they became coveted possessions there.

[11] Jack London wrote a story, "The Seed of McCoy", based on an incident in 1900 in which a burning ship, the Pyrenees, had been safely beached on Mangareva.

[12] The Tuamotus made headlines around the world in 1947, when the Norwegian ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl, sailing from South America with a crew of five others, reached Raroia on his raft Kon-Tiki.

The Tuamotus combine with the Gambier Islands to form the Îles Tuamotu-Gambier which is one of the five administrative divisions of French Polynesia.

The communes on Tuamotu are part of two different electoral districts (circonscriptions électorales) represented in the Assembly of French Polynesia.

The archipelago is geologically highly stable, because it was created by the action of the Easter fracture zone, which is only weakly active.

Although the Gambier Islands are geographically part of the Tuamotus because they lie at the southeastern extreme of the archipelago, they are geologically and culturally distinct.

The ring-shaped atoll Taiaro, which lies in the northwestern portion of the archipelago, is a rare example of a coral reef that has a fully enclosed lagoon.

Related island groups include: A little more than fifty atolls are permanently populated; the rest are occupied only sporadically, during the copra harvesting season or as a base for fishing expeditions.

[15] In 1833, the Catholic Church divided the Pacific into two apostolic vicariates: Western Oceania fell to the Marists and Eastern Oceania-which included the Tuamots, Hawaii, Tahiti, the Marquesas and the Cook Islands-was the responsibility of the Picpus missionaries.

With the missionary work, news of the islands' wealth in pearls also reached Europe, making them a coveted destination for European traders and adventurers.

Modest tourism infrastructure is found on the atolls of Rangiroa and Manihi, which offer recreational scuba diving and snorkeling destinations.

Fishing is a major activity in the atolls closest to Tahiti (Rangiroa, Arutua, Apataki), which supply the central market of Papeete.