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| Government type | Overseas territory of France, French Polynesia is governed under the 1958 French constitution, internally self-governing dependency of France, consisting of 118 islands in the South Pacific |
| Head of State (2009) |
Head of State: President HE Mr Nicolas Sarkozy; The president of France, represented by the High Commissioner of the Republic (Adolphe COLRAT since 7 July 2008). Head of the government: Mr Gaston Tong Sang (The government is headed by the president of French Polynesia, who is elected by the legislature for a five-year term; there are no term limits) |
| Independence | none -overseas lands of France; overseas territory of France from 1946-2004 |
| Constitution | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution) |
| Legal system | the laws of France where applicable apply |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal |
| Administrative divisions | there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are five archipelagic divisions named Archipel des Marquises, Archipel des Tuamotu, Archipel des Tubuai, Iles du Vent, Iles Sous-le-Vent |