Austral Islands

French ��les Australes, �also called �Tubuai Islands, � southernmost archipelago of French Polynesia. Volcanic in origin, they are part of a vast submerged mountain chain (probably a southeasterly extension of the Cook Islands) in the central South Pacific. Scattered for 800 miles (1,300 km), they comprise five inhabited islands - Raivavae (6 square miles [16 square km]), Rapa (15 square miles [39 square km]), Rimatara, (3 square miles [8 square km]), Rurutu