Tahiti

Tahiti (French, Taïtiv), formerly Otaheite, island of French Polynesia (an overseas territory of France), the largest and most important of the Society Islands, in the southern Pacific Ocean. Tahiti is one of the Windward group, or the south-eastern part of the Society Islands. It is 53 km (33 mi) long and 26 km (16 mi) wide with a total area of about 1,036 sq km (400 sq mi).

The island consists of two unequal and nearly circular portions connected by a narrow isthmus called Taravao, about 1.6 km (1 mi) wide and 15 m (50 ft) or less above sea level. The island is of volcanic origin and is so mountainous that most of its interior remains entirely uninhabited. The majority of the population lives on the long, narrow, fertile plain that extends out along the coast. The highest peak is on Mount Orohena, which reaches 2,241 m (7,352 ft). The climate is warm and equable, the temperature ranging from 16° to 32° C (60° to 90° F). Rainfall is abundant, and the island is covered with luxuriant vegetation.

The population of Tahiti is 115,820 (1998), and the indigenous inhabitants are Polynesians. The chief town on the island is Papeete, population 125,000 (2001 estimate), which is also the capital of French Polynesia.

Agricultural products are bananas, coconuts, oranges, sugar cane, and vanilla. The principal manufacturing industries are the preparation of copra, sugar, and rum. Pearls and mother-of-pearl are gathered. The chief exports include copra, vanilla, mother-of-pearl, and phosphates. Tourism is also important, and Tahiti has long enjoyed a worldwide reputation as a tropical paradise. However, overexploitation by tourism is threatening the islanders’ traditional way of life.

The island was settled by Polynesians by the 14th century, and probably earlier. French navigator Louis Antoine de Bougainville visited Tahiti in 1768 and claimed it for France. The next year British lieutenant James Cook explored the island. British naval officer William Bligh, captain of the Bounty, landed here in 1788, a year before the famed mutiny on his ship. France declared Tahiti a protectorate in 1842 and a colony in 1880. French artist Paul Gauguin lived here and painted many Tahitian subjects in the early 1890s. In 1946 the island, as part of French Polynesia, became a French overseas territory.