Editing French Polynesia (section)

== Administrative divisions ==
{{main|Administrative divisions of French Polynesia}}
[[File:French_Polynesia_relief_map_with_communes.svg|thumb|300px|The 5 administrative subdivisions and 48 [[communes of France|communes]] of French Polynesia.]]
French Polynesia is divided in five administrative subdivisions ({{lang|fr|subdivisions administratives}}):

* [[Marquesas Islands]] ({{langx|fr|les îles Marquises}} or officially {{lang|fr|la subdivision administrative des îles Marquises}})
* [[Leeward Islands (Society Islands)|Leeward Islands]] ({{langx|fr|les îles Sous-le-Vent}} or officially {{lang|fr|la subdivision administrative des îles Sous-le-Vent}}) (the two {{lang|fr|subdivisions administratives}} Windward Islands and Leeward Islands are part of the Society Islands)
* [[Windward Islands (Society Islands)|Windward Islands]] ({{langx|fr|les îles du Vent}} or officially {{lang|fr|la subdivision administrative des îles du Vent}}) (the two {{lang|fr|subdivisions administratives}} Windward Islands and Leeward Islands are part of the Society Islands)
* [[Îles Tuamotu-Gambier|Tuāmotu-Gambier]] ({{langx|fr|les Îles Tuamotu-Gambier}} or officially {{lang|fr|la subdivision administrative des îles Tuamotu-Gambier}}) (the Tuamotus and the Gambier Islands)
* [[Austral Islands]] ({{langx|fr|les îles Australes}} or officially {{lang|fr|la subdivision administrative des îles Australes}}) (including the [[Bass Islands (French Polynesia)|Bass Islands]])

The five administrative subdivisions are not local councils; they are solely [[Decentralisation|deconcentrated]] subdivisions of the French central State. At the head of each administrative subdivision is an {{lang|fr|administrateur d'État}} ('State administrator'), generally simply known as {{lang|fr|administrateur}}, also sometimes called {{lang|fr|chef de la subdivision administrative}} ('head of the administrative subdivision'). The {{lang|fr|administrateur}} is a civil servant under the authority of the High Commissioner of the French Republic in French Polynesia in [[Papeete]].

Four administrative subdivisions (Marquesas Islands, Leeward Islands, Tuamotu-Gambier, and Austral Islands) each also form a deconcentrated subdivision of the government of French Polynesia. These are called {{lang|fr|circonscriptions}} ('districts'). The head of a {{lang|fr|circonscription}} is the {{lang|ty|tavana hau}}, known as {{lang|fr|administrateur territorial}} in French ('territorial administrator'), but the [[Tahitian language|Tahitian]] title {{lang|ty|tavana hau}} is most often used. The [[president of French Polynesia|president of French Polynesia's government]] appoints the {{lang|ty|tavana hau}}, who directly reports to the president. The Windward Islands, due to their proximity to Papeete, do not form a deconcentrated subdivision of the government of French Polynesia.

The 5 administrative subdivisions are themselves divided in 48 [[communes of France|communes]]. Like all other communes in the French Republic, these are municipalities in which local residents with either a French or another [[European Union|EU]] citizenship elect a municipal council and a mayor in charge of managing local affairs within the commune. Municipal elections occur every six years on the same date as in the rest of the French Republic (the last municipal elections [[2020 French municipal elections|took place in 2020]]).

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Top three largest communes
|-
! Commune !! Island !! Population<br />(2022)
|-
| [[Faʻaʻā]] || [[Tahiti]] || 29,826
|-
| [[Punaʻauia]] || [[Tahiti]] || 28,781
|-
| [[Papeete]] || [[Tahiti]] || 26,654
|}

30 communes are further subdivided in 98 [[associated communes of France|associated communes]] which have each a delegate mayor and a registry office. These 30 communes were subdivided in associated communes either because they have a large land territory (particularly in the larger islands such as [[Tahiti]] or [[Nuku Hiva]]) or because they are made up of [[atoll]]s distant from each other (particularly in the Tuamotu archipelago), which led to the creation of associated communes for each inhabited atoll.

17 communes (out of French Polynesia's 48 communes) have banded together in three separate [[communauté de communes|communities of communes]]. These indirectly elected [[Communes of France#Intercommunality|intercommunal councils]] are still relatively new in French Polynesia, and unlike in [[metropolitan France]] and its [[overseas departments and regions of France|overseas regions]] it is not mandatory for the communes in French Polynesia to join an intercommunal council. The three intercommunal councils in existence as of 2022, all formed on a voluntary basis, were:

* community of communes of the Marquesas Islands ({{langx|fr|communauté de communes des îles Marquises}}, or {{lang|fr|CODIM}}), formed in 2010 by all the communes in the administrative subdivision of the Marquesas Islands
* community of communes Havaʻi ({{langx|fr|communauté de communes Havaʻi}}, or {{lang|fr|CCH}}), formed in 2012 by all the communes in the administrative subdivision of the Leeward Islands, with the exception of [[Bora-Bora (commune)|Bora-Bora]] which preferred to remain separate for financial reasons
* community of communes Terehēamanu ({{langx|fr|communauté de communes Terehēamanu}}), formed in 2021 by 5 [[exurb]]an and rural communes on the eastern side of the island of [[Tahiti]]: [[Hitiaa O Te Ra]], [[Taiarapu-Est]], [[Taiarapu-Ouest]], [[Teva I Uta]], and [[Papara]].

These communities of communes, as elsewhere in the French Republic, are not full-fledged [[territorial collectivity|territorial collectivities]], but only federations of communes. From a legal standpoint, the only territorial collectivities in French Polynesia are the overseas collectivity of French Polynesia and the 48 communes.