Tahiti
TAHITI
174 team members
Adopt-a-country school: Avatea School
Accommodation: Avatea School
Dining: Princess Ann Hall
Capital: Papeete Land
Area: 3,521 sq km
Languages: Tahitian, French
Currency:
Tahiti is the principal island of the Territory of French Polynesia. French Polynesia comprises 120 islands divided into five archipelagos: the Society Archipelago, Tuamotu Archipelago, Marquesas Islands, Austral Islands and Mangreva Islands.
Tahiti is the largest island of French Polynesia, spread across nearly 2,000,000 square miles of the South Pacific. Tahiti’s total land size is 3521 km².
The area was settled by Polynesians between 300 and 800AD, mostly coming from Tonga and Samoa.
Tahiti was the site of both English and French colonial conquests. Tahiti became a French protectorate in 1842 and remained so until 1946 when Tahiti and the whole of French Polynesia became a French overseas territory.
In 2003 Tahiti’s status was altered again when it became a French overseas community.
The capital today of Tahiti is Pape’ete with Tahitian and French the official languages. While Tahitians are French citizens with full civil and political rights, the observance of their traditional culture is still extremely important. An example of this is the popularity of traditional music instruments such as the paku and toere drums and the nose flute known as the vivo.
While Tahiti is a semi-autonomous territory of France they have their own assembly, president, budget and law. While many citizens seek independence from France, those in control of the local government are widely opposed to such a move.
