Raivavae (Tahitian: Ra‘ivāvae ) is one of the Austral Islands in French Polynesia. Its total land area including offshore islets is .[ Environnement marin des îles Australes] At the 2022 census, it had a population of 900.
History
The first sighting by Europeans was recorded by the Spanish naval officer Tomás Gayangos on board of the
frigate El Aguila on 5 February 1775. Gayangos had taken over the command of the expedition of Domingo de Bonechea of 1774 after his death in
Tahiti and was returning to the Viceroyalty of Peru.
The main source describing this sighting is that of José Andía y Varela, pilot of the
packet boat Jupiter that accompanied
El Aguila in this return trip. On 6 February, a boat was sent in, and made contact with the inhabitants at the shore edge, but landing was not made. Raivavae was charted as
Santa Rosa by the Spaniards, who recorded as
Oraibaba the name of the island said by the inhabitants.
[Andía y Varela, José Relación del viaje hecho a la isla de Amat, por otro nombre Otahiti, y descubrimiento de las islas adyacentes en los años 1774 y 1775, Barcelona, 1947, p.83][Sharp, Andrew The discovery of the Pacific Islands Oxford, 1960, p.126,127][Corney, Bolton Granvill The quest and occupation of Tahiti by emissaries of Spain during the years 1772-1776, London, 1913, Vol I, p.XLVII]
The island was annexed by France in 1880.
Geography
Raivavae is a
volcanic island that culminates with Mont Hiro at an altitude of 437 meters. Its land area is 16 km^2. It is surrounded by a fairly large lagoon, but smaller than that of
Tubuai. The surrounding
coral reef comprises twenty-eight motu (islets). It is 630 km southeast of
Tahiti.
Raivavae lies in the Cook-Austral volcanic chain, a series of submarine volcanoes and volcanic islands that stretches along the south of the Pacific Plate. The central island of Raivavae was formed from a hotspot on the Pacific Plate, whose magma production ended about 6.5 million years ago.
The main island has four villages: Anatonu on the north coast, Rairua and Mahanatoa on the west coast, and Vaiuru on the east coast.
The native language of Raivavae is a variant of the Austral language called Reo Raivavae.
Administration
The islands of Raivavae are administratively within the commune with the same name. Raivavae consists of the following associated communes:
[ Décret n°72-407 du 17 mai 1972 portant création de communes dans le territoire de la Polynésie française, Légifrance]
See also
-
Islands controlled by France in the Indian and Pacific oceans
