Tubuai

Early Polynesia The island has been inhabited since at least 1215CE. In the ancient past, a road was built that encircled the island. There exists on the island today the stone ruins of a "great number of structures, house platforms, marae complexes, and cemeteries..." According to David Stanley's South Pacific Handbook: "The Austral islands were one of the great art areas of the Pacific, represented today in many museums. The best-known artifacts are tall sharkskin drums, wooden bowls, fly-whisks, and tapa cloth." The next Europeans to arrive were the mutineers of HMS Bounty in 1789. Mutineer Fletcher Christian, in looking for an island on which to hide permanently, had "scoured" William Bligh's maps and nautical charts and decided on Tubuai. wrote: "The Island is full of Inhabitants for its size and may contain 3000 souls." Christian favoured using diplomacy over time to obtain wives eventually, but many of the other mutineers insisted on raiding parties to take wives by force. One mutineer, the heavily tattooed Thomas Burkett (who was later tried and hanged in England for mutiny), was speared in the side by one of the islanders during one of the skirmishes. After only two months since their first arrival on Tubuai, the mutineers left for good. One Protestant minister when visiting a congregation on Tubuai on January 3, 1824, wrote that several islanders were still suffering from a devastating illness. He described the symptoms and noted that several hundred had died within the previous four years. ==Geography==

Tupua'i is located just north of the Tropic of Capricorn. The island is at the centre of the Austral Islands, located 195 km from Ra'ivāvae, 210 km from Rurutu, 700 km from Rapa Iti and 640 km south of Tahiti. It consists of two former sets of volcanic peaks on Mount Taita'a (), which are separated by the collar of Huahine (). Its area is , surrounded by a large lagoon, the largest of the Austral Islands. The coral reef that surrounds it in effect creates a lagoon of , an area almost double that of the island. It sometimes reaches wide. Its depth is low, resulting in a characteristic turquoise or jade color. For a large part, its depth is around . However, it can reach up to in some parts of the Southeast. The waters are constantly replenished by a strong, fairly constant ocean current, which helps preserve the lagoon habitat and the health of the coral reef. The generally cooler waters and, until recently, very low pollution have also helped sustain this environment. Many small streams run through the island, though they often empty into swamps rather than the sea. These swamps represent a fairly large portion of the island. Only the river Vaiohuru has any real flow. Eight offshore motu surround the main island (with an additional 0.4 km2; 100 acres): • Motu One (also known as îlot de sable (Sandly Islet) in the North) • Motu Rautaro • Motu Toena • Motu Roa (also called Motu Tāpapatava'e) • Motu Mitihā (originally Motiha'a) • Motu 'Ōfa'i (also called îlot caillou (Rock Island)) • 'Iri'iriroa • Îlot plat (Flat Island) The islets above are listed clockwise from the north of the island. The last two islands are often submerged and hence not visible. The motu 'Ōfa'i is itself the only island that has not formed through coral because it is composed of basalt, hence its name. It is also the only volcanic outcrop on the island, aside from the main island. ==Climate==

The climate of Tubuai is cooler than Tahiti, with temperatures averaging . The island has hot, muggy summers and warm, humid winters with ample precipitation all year. The lowest temperature measured on the island was on 31 August 1951. The highest was on 25 March 1980. The lagoon waters typically reach in summer but only drop a few degrees in winter. Rainfall is high, averaging about 2000 mm (78 inches) per year, with about 1700 mm (67 inches) per year in 2006 and 2007. The highest recorded rainfall was 2839 mm (112 inches) in 1962 and the lowest was 1186 mm (47 inches) in 1952. The record for rainfall in a day is in turn 191 mm (8 inches) on 23 April 1942. one of the lowest levels in Polynesia. The humidity is lower than in Tahiti, in the order of a few percent, mainly due to its higher latitude and lower altitude (which retain fewer clouds). The trade winds coming from the Southeast are the prevailing winds. Those coming from the North or Northwest are synonymous with a change towards more sunny days. The maximum recorded wind speeds, however, never exceeded 100 mph (160 km/h; 45 m/s). Average weather records on Tupua'i: ==Demographics==

Since the 1990s, the island's population has stabilized at approximately 2000 inhabitants. Evolution of the population of Tupua'i since its discovery: ==Administration==

Tubuai is the administrative capital of the Austral Islands, and the commune consists solely of this island and the six or seven motus surrounding it. Tubuai was annexed by France in 1881. The commune itself consists of the following associated communes: • Mahu • Mataura • Taahuaia ==See also==