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Tahiti facts and history in brief





Tahiti facts & history in brief       Map of Tahiti


Tahiti, is the largest of the 14 Society Islands in the South Pacific Ocean and part of French Polynesia, a French overseas territory made up of five main island groups.
It is mainly a mountainous tropical islands with palms and luxuriant flora, including a climbing orchid from which vanilla is extracted.
A broken coral reef surrounds the island.
The interior of the island is mountainous and almost entirely uninhabited.
Most of the population lives on a strip of flat, fertile land that lies along the coast.
Heavy rainfall helps create many fast-flowing streams and spectacular waterfalls.
The island is covered with tropical vegetation, including coconut palms and banana, orange, and papaya trees.
About 120,000 people live on Tahiti.
About 80 per cent of them are Polynesians or have mixed Polynesian and European ancestry, the rest of the population is made up of Chinese and Europeans.
The earliest inhabitants of Tahiti were Polynesians who came from Asia hundreds of years ago.
In 1767, the British Samuel Wallis was the first European to visit the islands and claimed Tahiti for the United Kingdom.
A year later the French navigator, Louis Antoine de Bougainville claimed it for France.
In the 19th century mostly French missionaries settled on the island, converting the Tahitian chief and most of his people to Christianity.
In 1842, Tahiti became a French protectorate and a colony of France in 1880.
In 1946 French Polynesia became an overseas territory of France.
There were several independence movements over the years.
In 1977 French Polynesia was granted considerable powers of self-government.
In 1995 protests against French nuclear testing in the nearby area reignited the Tahitian independence movement, but most people want to remain under French rule.
Tahiti became world famous as a tropical paradise through the paintings and writings of many artists and writers who lived there or visited the islands.
Paul Gauguin, the French painter portrayed Tahiti's lush beauty and peaceful atmosphere in many of his paintings.
Many writers, like the American James Michener, and the Scottish Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote glowing descriptions of the island.
Their works of and the islands' exotic beauty and tropical climate have helped make Tahiti famous and popular with tourists.
Tahiti's Chinese population is involved in much of the retail and shipping trade on the island.
People in rural areas farm the land or work in the fishing industry.
The farmers grow breadfruit, taro, and yams for their own use and produce small quantities of copra and vanilla for export.
Tahiti covers about 1,040 square kilometres.





Papeete is the Capital, largest city, largest settlement and chief port of French Polynesia.
Many Tahitians live in or near Papeete and work in the tourist industry, which is the base of the island's economy.




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