Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is the North Island of New Zealand. The island was formed from volcanic activity in two overlapping parts, Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Iti ; it is high and mountainous with surrounding coral reefs. Its population was 189,517 in 2017, making it by far the most populous island in French Polynesia and accounting for 68.7% of its total population; the 2022 Census recorded a population of 191,779.
Tahiti is the economic, cultural, and political centre of French Polynesia. The capital of French Polynesia, Papeete, is located on the northwest coast of Tahiti. The only international airport in the region, Faaā International Airport, is on Tahiti near Papeete. Tahiti was originally settled by Polynesians between. They represent about 70% of the island's population, with the rest made up of Europeans, Chinese and those of mixed heritage. The island was part of the Kingdom of Tahiti until its annexation by France in 1880, when it was proclaimed a colony of France, and the inhabitants became French citizens. French is the sole official language, although the Tahitian language is also widely spoken.
Tahiti was called Otaheite in earlier European documents: this is a rendering of the Tahitian phrase ʻo Tahiti, which is typically pronounced. When early Europeans asked the name of the island, the reply was "'o Tahiti", meaning "it is Tahiti".
Geography
Tahiti is the highest and largest island in French Polynesia lying close to Moorea island. It is located south of Hawaii, from Chile, from Australia.The island is across at its widest point and covers an area of. The highest peak is Mont Orohena . Mount Roonui, or Mount Ronui, in the southeast rises to. The island consists of two roughly round portions centered on volcanic mountains and connected by a short isthmus of Taravao.
The northwestern portion is known as Tahiti Nui, while the much smaller southeastern portion is known as Tahiti Iti or Taiarapū. Tahiti Nui is heavily populated along the coast, especially around the capital, Papeete.
The interior of Tahiti Nui is almost entirely uninhabited. Tahiti Iti has remained isolated, as its southeastern half is accessible only to those travelling by boat or on foot. The rest of the island is encircled by a main road which cuts between the mountains and the sea. Tahiti's landscape features lush rainforests and many rivers and waterfalls, including the Papenoo on the north side and the Fautaua Falls near Papeete.
Geology
Both Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Iti are extinct and heavily eroded shield volcanoes which formed from volcanic activity associated with the Society hotspot.Climate
November to April is the wet season, the wettest month of which is January with of rain in Papeete. August is the driest with.The average temperature ranges between, with little seasonal variation. The lowest and highest temperatures recorded in Papeete are, respectively.
History
Early settling of Tahiti
The first Tahitians arrived from Western Polynesia into the Society Islands sometime after ; some studies have proposed slightly later dates,. Linguistic, biological and archaeological evidence supports a long migration from Southeast Asia via the Fijian, Samoan and Tongan Archipelagos using outrigger canoes that were up to twenty or thirty metres long and could transport families as well as domestic animals.Civilization before the arrival of the Europeans
Before the arrival of the Europeans, the island was divided into territories, each dominated by a single clan. The most important clans were the closely related Teva i Uta and the Teva i Tai whose combined territory extended from the peninsula in the south of Tahiti Nui.File:Representation of a human sacrifice in a morai at Otaheite in the presence of Captain Cook and his officers, Le Costume Ancien et Moderne by Giulio Ferrario, 1827.jpg|thumb|left|An 1827 representation of human sacrifice in Tahiti, based on the account of Captain Cook c.1773
Clan leadership consisted of a chief, nobles, and under-chiefs. The arii were also the religious leaders, revered for the mana they inherited as descendants of the gods. As symbols of their power, they wore belts of red feathers. Nonetheless, to exercise their political power, councils or general assemblies composed of the arii and the Īatoai had to be called, especially in case of war.
The chief's spiritual power was also limited; each clan's practice was organized around their marae and its priests.
First European visits
The first European to arrive at Tahiti may have been Spanish explorer Juan Fernández in his expedition of 1576–1577. Alternatively, Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, serving the Spanish Crown in an expedition to Terra Australis, was perhaps the first European to see Tahiti. He sighted an inhabited island on 10 February 1606. However, it has been suggested that he actually saw the island of Rekareka to the southeast of Tahiti. Hence, although the Spanish and Portuguese made contact with nearby islands, they may not have arrived at Tahiti.The next stage of European visits to the region came during the period of intense Anglo-French rivalry that filled the twelve years between the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. The first of these visits, and perhaps the first European visit to Tahiti, was under the command of Captain Samuel Wallis. While circumnavigating the globe in, they sighted the island on 18 June 1767 and then harbored in Matavai Bay between the chiefdom Pare-Arue and the chiefdom Haapape, governed by Amo and his wife "Oberea". The initially friendly encounter turned tense as islanders grew suspicious and sought control of the Dolphin, leading to a week of skirmishes that culminated in violence, but to avert all-out war after a British show of force, Oberea laid down peace offerings leading to cordial relations.
File:Hodges, Resolution and Adventure in Matavai Bay.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|Matavai Bay, Tahiti, painted by William Hodges, member of an expedition led by Captain Cook
On 2 April 1768, the expedition of Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, aboard and on the first French circumnavigation, sighted Tahiti. On 5 April, they anchored off Hitiaa O Te Ra and were welcomed by its chief Reti. Bougainville was also visited by Tutaha. Bougainville stayed about ten days.
By 12 April 1769 Captain James Cook had arrived in Tahiti's Matavai Bay on a scientific mission with astronomy, botany, and artistic details. On 14 April Cook met Tutaha and Tepau and the next day he picked the site for a fortified camp at Point Venus for Charles Green's observatory. Botanist Joseph Banks and artist Sydney Parkinson, along with Cook, gathered valuable information on fauna and flora as well as on native society, language and customs, including the proper name of the island. Cook also met many island chiefs. Cook and Endeavour left Tahiti on 13 July 1769. Cook estimated the population to be 200,000 including all the nearby islands in the chain. This estimate was reduced to 35,000 by Cook's contemporary, anthropologist and Tahiti expert Douglas L. Oliver.
The Viceroy of Peru, Manuel de Amat y Juniet, under order of the Spanish Crown, organized an expedition to colonize the island in 1772. He would ultimately send three expeditions aboard the ship Aguila, the first two under the command of navigator Domingo de Bonechea. Four Tahitians, Pautu, Tipitipia, Heiao, and Tetuanui, accompanied Bonechea back to Peru in early 1773 after the first Aguila expedition.
Cook returned to Tahiti between 15 August and 1 September 1773. Greeted by the chiefs, Cook anchored in Vaitepiha Bay before returning to Point Venus. Cook left Tahiti on 14 May 1774.
Pautu and Tetuanui returned to Tahiti with Bonechea aboard Aguila on 14 November 1774; Tipitipia and Heiao had died. Bonechea died on 26 January 1775 in Tahiti and was buried near the mission he had established at Tautira Bay. Lt Tomas Gayangos took over command and set sail for Peru on 27 January, leaving the Fathers Geronimo Clota and Narciso Gonzalez and the sailors Maximo Rodriguez and Francisco Perez in charge of the mission. On the third Aguila expedition, under Don Cayetano de Langara, the mission on Tahiti was abandoned on 12 November 1775, when the Fathers successfully begged to be taken back to Lima.
During his final visit in 1777 Cook first moored in Vaitepiha Bay. From there he reunited with many Tahitian clans and established British presence on the remains of the Spanish mission. On 29 September 1777 Cook sailed for Papetoai Bay on Moorea.
British influence and the rise of the Pōmare
Mutineers of the ''Bounty''
On 26 October 1788,, under the command of Captain William Bligh, landed in Tahiti with the mission of carrying Tahitian breadfruit trees to the Caribbean. Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist from James Cook's first expedition, had concluded that this plant would be ideal to feed the African slaves working in the Caribbean plantations at very little cost. The crew remained in Tahiti for about five months, the time needed to transplant the seedlings of the trees. Three weeks after leaving Tahiti, on 28 April 1789, the crew mutinied on the initiative of Fletcher Christian. The mutineers seized the ship and set the captain and most of those members of the crew who remained loyal to him adrift in a ship's boat. A group of mutineers then went back to settle in Tahiti, after which the Bounty, under Christian, sailed to Pitcairn Island.Although various explorers had refused to get involved in tribal conflicts, the mutineers from the Bounty offered their services as mercenaries and furnished arms to the family which became the Pōmare Dynasty. The chief Tū knew how to use their presence in the harbours favoured by sailors to his advantage. As a result of his alliance with the mutineers, he succeeded in considerably increasing his supremacy over the island of Tahiti.
In about 1790, the ambitious chief Tū took the title of king and gave himself the name Pōmare. Captain Bligh explains that this name was a homage to his eldest daughter Teriinavahoroa, who had died of tuberculosis, "an illness that made her cough a lot, especially at night ". Thus he became Pōmare I, founding the Pōmare Dynasty and his lineage would be the first to unify Tahiti from 1788 to 1791. He and his descendants founded and expanded Tahitian influence to all of the lands that now constitute modern French Polynesia.
In 1791, under Captain Edward Edwards called at Tahiti and took custody of fourteen of the mutineers. Four were drowned in the sinking of Pandora on her homeward voyage, three were hanged, four were acquitted, and three were pardoned.