List of colonial and departmental heads of French Polynesia
French official position
The high commissioner of the Republic in French Polynesia (French: Haut-commissaire de la République en Polynésie française) is the highest representative of the French Republic in the overseas country of French Polynesia. The office is equivalent to that of a prefect (French: Préfet) and its powers are governed by Organic Law 2004–192. The high commissioner is directly appointed by the president of the French Republic.
The high commissioner can enact local laws (known as Lois du Pays) with the countersignature of the president of French Polynesia, and must ensure their publication in the Journal Officiel de la Polynésie française. He is competent for all matters not devolved to the Government of French Polynesia. Until 1984, he had assumed the powers now devolved to and exercised by the president of French Polynesia.
The overseas minor territory of Clipperton Island falls also under the jurisdiction of the high commissioner; it is uninhabited and has no local administration.
The official residence and the office of the high commissioner are at the Haut-Commissariat in Papeete.
List of state representatives in French Polynesia
The chief representative of the French Government in French Polynesia has held different titles throughout history. During the period of the protectorate of the Kingdom of Tahiti, this title reflected the political regime of France:
Commissioner of the King (1842–1848)
Commissioner of the Republic (1848–1852)
Commissioner of the Empire (1852–1870)
Commissioner of the Republic (1870–1880)
After the final annexation of Tahiti by the French Third Republic, the Kingdom of Tahiti was dissolved and the French Establishments of Oceania were created.
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