Tahiti << tuh HEE tee >>, an island in the South Pacific Ocean, is known for its beauty and tropical climate. It is the largest island in French Polynesia, a French possession made up of five main island groups. Tahiti is one of the 14 Society Islands. Papeete is the chief port of Tahiti and one of its largest cities. The city is also the capital of French Polynesia.
Tahiti gained worldwide fame as a tropical paradise through the works of many artists and writers who visited the island or lived there. The French artist Paul Gauguin portrayed Tahiti’s lush beauty and peaceful atmosphere in many paintings. Many authors, including Herman Melville and James Michener of the United States and Robert Louis Stevenson of Scotland, wrote glowing descriptions of the island. Such works have helped make Tahiti popular with tourists.
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Tahiti covers 402 square miles (1,041 square kilometers). A broken coral reef surrounds the island. Most of the population lives on a strip of flat, fertile land that lies along the coast. The interior of the island is mountainous, and the land is so steep that it is almost entirely uninhabited. 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 190,000 people live on Tahiti. About 80 percent of them are Polynesians or have mixed Polynesian and European ancestry. Most of the rest of the population is made up of Chinese and Europeans.
Many Tahitians live in or near Papeete and work in the tourist industry, which is the base of the island’s economy. 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.
The earliest inhabitants of Tahiti were Polynesians who came there from Asia hundreds of years ago. The first European to visit the island was the British sea captain Samuel Wallis in 1767. He claimed Tahiti for Britain. The next year, a French navigator named Louis-Antoine de Bougainville landed on Tahiti and claimed it for France. Tahiti became a French protectorate in 1842 and a colony of France in 1880. In 1946, France declared Tahiti and the other islands of French Polynesia to be a French overseas territory. Several independence movements began in French Polynesia during the mid-1900’s, but most of the people have wanted to remain under French rule. In 2004, French Polynesia became a French overseas country. The new status gave French Polynesia more power over local matters.
See also Gauguin, Paul; Society Islands.
