Tematangi or Tematangui is an atoll in the southeastern area of the Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia. Tematangi's nearest neighbor is Mururoa, which is located 161 km to the ESE.
Tematangi is a medium-sized atoll. It measures approximately 11.5 km in length and has a maximum width of 7 km. Its reef encloses completely the deep lagoon, which is 61 km sq. There is no navigable pass to enter the lagoon.
There are many relatively large islands on Tematangi's reef, as well as a few small motu. The main village is Tuihana. There were 53 inhabitants on Tematangi in the last census.
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The first recorded European to visit this atoll was Captain William Bligh on the ship Providence on April 5, 1792. At the time of Bligh's visit, it was uninhabited. Tematangi Atoll appears in some maps as "Bligh's Lagoon Island".
When Frederick Beechey visited Tematangi in 1826 he found inhabitants there. In 1857, the captain of the Julia, coasting along Tematangi Atoll saw armed natives follow the course of his schooner... "clad in many-coloured stuffs".
Tematangi is the closest land area to the antipodes of Mecca. This means that the correct direction of Muslim prayer (qibla) varies widely between Tematangi and its neighboring islands.
Administratively Tematangi belongs to the commune of Tureia, which includes the atolls of Tureia, Fangataufa, Moruroa, Tematangi and Vanavana.
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