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Rapa Iti |
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| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Overseas collectivity | French Polynesia |
| Arrondissement | - |
| Canton | - |
| Statistics | |
| Elevation | 0–650 m (0–2,130 ft) |
| Land area1 | 40 km2 (15 sq mi) |
| Population2 | 497 (2002) |
| - Density | 12 /km2 (31 /sq mi) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 98741/ - |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. | |
Rapa or Rapa Iti (Little Rapa) as it is sometimes called in more recent years (to distinguish it from "Rapa Nui" (Big Rapa), a name for Easter Island), is the largest and only inhabited island of the Bass Islands in French Polynesia. An older name for the island is Oparo[1] Its area is 40 km2 with a population of almost 500 and a max elevation of 650 m. Its main town is Ahuréi.
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Rapa Iti is located at . It is shaped roughly like a Greek final sigma (ς), with a well-protected central bay, surrounded by a ring of relatively high mountains. The whole island appears very much to be the peak of a sinking volcano, with the bay as the caldera. The area of the island is 40 km2 (15 sq mi).
Its main town, Ahuréi (sometimes called Ahurei, Ha'urei or Ha'uréi, latter two also show how it is pronounced), lies on both the northern and southern shores of that bay, which is called the Baie d'Ahuréi. The people are Polynesian. Former times' warfare is indicated by 28 extant ridgetop forts. Today Rapa is home to the Tahitian Choir, in which a third of the island's population sing traditional songs.
Although sometimes considered part of the Austral Islands, Rapa Iti and the Bass Islands have a different geological, linguistic and cultural history.[2]
Rapa Iti was first settled by the Rapan speaking Polynesians, most likely in the 13th century. [3] It is considered that after the depletion of natural resources on the island started warfare and inhabitants of Rapa Iti developed a system of 14 fortified settlements ("pa" or "pare", a type of fort) on peaks and clifftops.[4] It is considered that the oldest fortified settlement on the island is Morongo Uta, which was developed circa 1450 - 1550 AD.[5]
The first European to encounter Rapa was George Vancouver in 1791; he named the island Oparo. Thor Heyerdahl, notably, made excavations in Morongo Uta, seeking links between Rapa Iti and Rapa Nui (Easter Island).
The Manatau French Polynesian Reserve is a special French Polynesian Reserve to protect the animals and ridgetop forts of an area of southern Rapa. It is located near South Ahuréi (suburb of Ahuréi).
The commune of Rapa consists of the islands of Rapa Iti and the four uninhabited Marotiri rocks.
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