Culture and Geography
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Reviewed by: Editorial Staff
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A portion of the islands was discovered by Pedro Fernandez Quiros in 1607. Samuel Wallis rediscovered it in 1767 and named it King George’s Island. In 1768, Louis de Bougainville visited Tahiti, claimed it as French, and renamed it La Nouvelle Cythere. Later, in 1769, Cook arrived at Tahiti and called it ‘Garden of Eden’. After the abdication of Pomare V, in 1880, the islands, previously a protectorate of France, became French Polynesia—French Overseas Territory.
In their effort to tame and culture the people, the French Missionaries tried to wipe out a lot of the traditional Polynesian culture. Recently, there has been a strong push to revive the traditional culture. Traditional music instruments include pahu and toere (drums) and vivo (nose flute). The traditional form of dancing, tamure has slowly made its way back into popular culture.
French Polynesia is part of the archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean. The terrain of the island is a combination of rugged high islands and low islands with reefs. The lowest point of the region is Pacific Ocean (0 m) while the highest is Mont Orohena (2,241 m).
