Rangiroa
- ISS006-E-9183
- 12 December 2002
- 19:22 UTC
Rangiroa, the largest of the Tuamotu atolls — and the largest atoll to be found south of the Equator — is located in the northwest regions of the archipelago, 15 km southeast from Tikehau and 355 km northeast from Tahiti.
The total land area of Rangiroa is 43 km², making it the largest lagoon and motu atoll on earth — only the unusual atolls of Ouvéa (New Caledonia), Aldabra (Seychelles) and Kiritmati (Line Islands) have larger land areas. Its expansive lagoon measures 80 km in length and 32 km across at its widest, covering an area of 1,592 km² (second in size only to the atoll of Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands. The reef is cut by two main passages: Hutuaara and Hiria.
