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In 1971, a nuclear test conducted by France occurred at the Mururoa atoll, situated in French Polynesia. Mururoa, an atoll formed from coral islands, lies at the southeastern tip of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia, within the central region of the South Pacific Ocean. Positioned around 700 miles to the southeast of Tahiti, it had been previously uninhabited and utilized for coconut cultivation until it was ceded to France in 1964. From 1966 to 1996, this island served as the location for numerous French nuclear weapons tests, which were executed through the Pacific Experimentation Centre. The initial test explosion took place on July 3, 1966, despite objections from around 30 members of the Polynesian Territorial Assembly. After 1975, the nuclear tests transitioned to being conducted underground, partially in response to global apprehensions about the impact of fracturing the rock beneath Mururoa. To address these concerns, France shifted its more powerful detonations to occur beneath the lagoon of Fangataufa Atoll, located to the south of Mururoa. Although testing was halted in 1992, it resumed in 1995 amidst significant opposition from both the French public and within the territory itself. During this time, France detonated a bomb beneath Mururoa, leading to rioting in Tahiti and intensified pressure from the growing anti-nuclear movement. The final French nuclear test within the South Pacific took place below Fangataufa Atoll in January 1996. Subsequently, in 1996, France signed the protocols of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Rarotonga. As part of this agreement, military and civilian facilities associated with nuclear testing were dismantled, and efforts were made to restore Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls closer to their natural conditions. While a small number of military personnel remained in the region to periodically monitor the test sites, the era of French nuclear testing in the South Pacific came to an end.