Several thousand people in French Polynesia have joined a march demanding France own up to the damage caused by its nuclear weapons tests.

The rally was organised by nuclear veterans group and the pro-independence opposition to mark the day in 1974 when fallout from an atmospheric nuclear test covered all of French Polynesia.

The protest under the banner Maohi Lives Matter came a week before the French president Emmanuel Macron is due for his delayed first official visit to the territory.

A pro-independence parliamentarian Moetai Brotherson said over the years the French tests had contributed to the death of thousands of people yet France refused to apologise for that.