Rurutu is the northernmost island of the Austral archipelago in French Polynesia. It covers an area of 19.8sqmi (32.75 km2) and is home to the 2,089 inhabitants residing in the three main villages of Moerai in the northeast, Avera in the west and Hauti in the east as well as in the two smaller ones at the southern tip, Narui and Naairoa. When the municipalities of French Polynesia were created in 1972, the island was equipped with a ring road and two transverse routes connecting the three villages to respond to the population increase.