Tahiti

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Tahiti Island in the s Pacific Ocean, in the Windward group of the Society Islands, the largest in French Polynesia and accounting for more than half its population. Tahiti is mountainous, rising to 2237m (7339ft), but also fertile – producing tropical fruits, copra, sugar cane, and vanilla. Charted in 1767 by the British navigator Samuel Wallis and explored by Captain Cook, France colonized it in 1880. Paul Gauguin lived and painted here. Industries: tourism, pearl-fishing, phosphates. Area: 1058sq km (408sq mi). Pop. (1996) 150,000.

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