Other posts discussing this area will follow either in the early hours of the 21st or else will be put up tomorrow afternoon. This post will serve as an overview of this area, then I will do a second post discussing the current 10 temples already operating within the boundaries of this area, and cap it off with a third discussing the temple prospects I see within this area.
If the posts start to be too cumbersome in their length and breadth, I may wind up subdividing them further, but for now, I am just planning on three posts to cover this area. That said, let's dive right in to the discussion of the countries, nations, and territories comprising this area.
The Pacific Area, as some of you may already be aware, comprises 20 main regions, referred to as nations or islands. They are as follows: Australia; Fiji; Kiribati; Marshall Islands; Nauru; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Samoa; Solomon Islands; Tonga; Tuvalu; Vanuatu; American Samoa (a territory owned by the US); Cook Islands (a free associate of New Zealand).
The French Polynesian region comprises the bulk of the remaining islands that are part of the Pacific Area, and the Church has a presence in the following regions from among those islands: the French-owned island nations of Tahiti and New Caledonia, Niue (an island in New Zealand that recognizes itself as belonging to Great Britain's monarchy), and Tokelau, which is essentially defined by its locals and the government of New Zealand as a nation, though the UN declared in 2007 that it was a non-self governing territory. For purposes of simplification, I will only be focusing in this series on those regions covered by a temple district.
That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. I will be back (probably tomorrow) with the remaining posts discussing the current and potential future temples within this area. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.