Tahiti
Find a premier Hotel & Resort at
Hilton Hotels.
or book Sheraton Hotels and Resorts
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tahiti is the largest island of French
Polynesia. It is located in the archipelago of
Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean,
at 17°40′S 149°30′W. The island had a population
of 169,674 inhabitants at the 2002 census. (This
makes it the most populated island of French
Polynesia, holding 69% of the total population.)
The capital is Papeete, on the northwest coast.
Tahiti has also been historically known as
Otaheite.
Tahiti is some 28 miles (45 km) long at the
widest point and covers 1,048 km² (404 sq.
miles), with the highest elevation being at
2,241 meters (7,352 feet) above sea level (Mount
Orohena).The island consists of two roughly
round portions centered on volcanic mountains,
connected by a short isthmus named after the
small town of Taravao, which sits there. The
northwestern part is known as Tahiti Nui, or big
Tahiti, and the southeastern part, much smaller,
is known as Tahiti Iti (small Tahiti) or
Taiarapu. Whereas Tahiti Nui is quite heavily
populated (especially around Papeete) and
benefits from rather good infrastructure, such
as roads and highways, Tahiti Iti has remained
quite isolated, its southeastern half (Te Pari)
being accessible only by boat or hiking.
The vegetation is lush rain forest. The wet
season is November through April.
The island is served by Faaa International
Airport.
History
The native population is Polynesian, and is
estimated to have settled on the island sometime
between AD 300 and 800, although some estimates
place the date earlier.
The fertile island soil combined with fishing
provided ample food for the population with
ease. The perceived relaxed and contented nature
of the local people and the characterization of
the island as a paradise much impressed early
European visitors, planting the seed for a
romanticization by the West that endures to this
day.
Although the islands were first spotted by a
Spanish ship in 1606, Spain made no effort to
trade with or colonize the island. Samuel
Wallis, an English sea captain, sighted Tahiti
on June 18, 1767 and is considered the first
European discoverer of the island.
Wallis was followed in April 1768 by the French
explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville who was
completing the first French circumnavigation.
Bougainville made Tahiti famous in Europe when
he published the account of his travel in Voyage
autour du Monde. He described the island as an
earthly paradise where men and women live
happily in innocence, away from the corruption
of civilization. His account of the island
powerfully illustrated the concept of the noble
savage, and influenced the utopian thoughts of
philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau
before the advent of the French Revolution.
In 1774 Captain James Cook visited the island,
and estimated the population at that time to be
some 200,000. This was probably too high;
another estimate from the same period was
121,500.
After Cook's visit, European ships landed on the
island with ever greater frequency. The
best-known of these ships was the HMS Bounty,
whose crew mutinied shortly after leaving Tahiti
in 1789. The European influence caused
significant disruption to the traditional
society, by bringing prostitution, venereal
diseases, and alcohol to the island. Introduced
diseases including typhus and smallpox killed so
many Tahitians that by 1797, the island's
population was only about 16,000. Later it was
to drop as low as 6,000.
In 1842 A European crisis involving Morocco was
escalated between France and Great Britain when
Admiral Dupetit-Thouars, acting independently of
the French government was able to convince Queen
Pomare IV to accept a French protectorate.
George Pritchard, a Birmingham-born missionary
and acting British Consul, had been away at the
time of the agreement, however he had returned
to work towards indoctrinating the locals
against the Roman Catholic French. In November
1843, Dupetit-Thouars again completely on his
own initiative then landed sailors on the
island, formally annexing it to France. He then
proceeded to throw Pritchard into prison,
sending him unceremoniously back to Britain.
News of the events in Tahiti had reached Europe
in early 1844 and Guizot, supported by King
Louis-Philippe had strongly disclaimed the
annexation of the Islands. However war between
the French and the Tahitians continued until
1847. The island would continue as a French
protectorate until 1880.
In 1880, King Pomare V (1842–1891) was forced to
cede the sovereignty of Tahiti and its
dependencies to France on 29 June, whereupon he
was given the titular position of Officer of the
Orders of the Legion of Honour and Agricultural
Merit of France.
In 1946, Tahiti and the whole of French
Polynesia, become a Territoire d'outre-mer
(French overseas territory), and in 2003, this
status was changed to that of Pays d'outre-mer.
French painter Paul Gauguin lived on Tahiti in
the 1890s and painted many Tahitian subjects.
Papeari has a small Gauguin museum.
Modern Tahiti
Aerial view of Papeete areaTahitians are French
citizens with full civil and political rights.
The Tahitian language and the French language
are both in use.
Tahiti hosts a French university: the University
of French Polynesia (Université de la Polynésie
Française)[1]. It is a small university, with
around 2,000 students and about 60 researchers.
Physicists Pascal Ortega [2] (lightning studies)
and Alessio Guarino [3] (nonlinear physics) are
among them. In the Human Sciences department,
sociologist Laura Schuft deserves to be
mentioned for her study on the integration of
mainlander French workers in Tahiti.
Tourism is a significant industry, especially
during the Heiva festival in Papeete celebrating
indigenous culture and the commemoration of the
storming of the Bastille in France, both of
which take place annually in the month of July.
|
|
Background:
|
The French annexed various Polynesian island groups
during the 19th century. In September 1995, France
stirred up widespread protests by resuming nuclear
testing on the Mururoa atoll after a three-year
moratorium. The tests were suspended in January
1996. |
|
Location:
|
Oceania, archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean,
about one-half of the way from South America to
Australia |
|
Geographic coordinates:
|
15 00 S, 140 00 W
|
|
Map references:
|
Oceania |
|
Area:
|
total: 4,167 sq km (118 islands and atolls)
water: 507 sq km
land: 3,660 sq km |
|
Area - comparative:
|
slightly less than one-third the size of Connecticut
|
|
Climate:
|
tropical, but moderate |
|
Terrain:
|
mixture of rugged high islands and low islands with
reefs |
|
Ethnic groups:
|
Polynesian 78%, Chinese 12%, local French 6%,
metropolitan French 4% |
|
Religions:
|
Protestant 54%, Roman Catholic 30%, other 10%, no
religion 6% |
|
Languages:
|
French (official), Tahitian (official) |
|
Currency:
|
Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique franc (XPF); note -
may adopt the euro in 2003 |
|
Currency code:
|
XPF |
|
Exchange rates:
|
Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique francs (XPF) per US
dollar - 135.04 (January 2002), 133.26 (2001),
129.44 (2000), 111.93 (1999), 107.25 (1998), 106.11
(1997); note - pegged at the rate of 119.25 XPF to
the euro |
|
|
|
|
|
Tahiti Travel Information and Hotel Discounts
