Deep in the southern Pacific Ocean, hundreds of kilometers from the nearest inhabited land, are the tiny Pitcairn Islands. This is a group of four volcanic islands called Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno, which form a British Overseas Territory and have a total area of just 47 km2. Pitcairn Island is the only one that is inhabited, housing 47 people, as of 2021. This makes the Pitcairn Islands the least populated territory in the world. Most of the inhabitants of the island are descendants of the Bounty mutineers and the Tahitians who settled here with them.
These islands are extremely remote. The closest inhabited land to Pitcairn Island is Mangareva, which is part of French Polynesia, and is over 500 km to the northwest. Other islands of French Polynesia are even further west, with Tahiti being over 2,100 km away. Meanwhile, Easter Island, which is part of Chile, is around 2,080 km east of Pitcairn Island.
The four Pitcairn Islands are also quite far from each other. Henderson, the largest of the four islands, is located almost 200 km northeast of Pitcairn Island. Meanwhile, Oeno is 140 km to the northwest, and Ducie is almost 540 km to the east. Oeno and Ducie are more than 600 km away from each other.
Position of the Pitcairn Islands in the Pacific Ocean (TUBS, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0).
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History of the Pitcairn Islands
Although Pitcairn and Henderson hosted Polynesian settlements at some point, they were uninhabited when the Europeans first reached the islands. Portuguese sailor Pedro Fernandes de Queirós was the first European to visit the islands in 1606, but it is unclear which of the four he reached. In 1767, British captain Philip Carteret arrived in Pitcairn Island, and named it after Robert Pitcairn, a 15-year-old sailor who was the first to spot the island.
The event that defined the history of Pitcairn is the mutiny on the Bounty. HMS Bounty was a British merchant ship that was sailing in the South Pacific after leaving England in 1787. The ship stopped in Tahiti for five months, during which some members of the crew developed relationships with the native women. After leaving Tahiti, the sailors had to reluctantly return to their duties and the difficult life at sea. William Bligh, the captain of the Bounty, started handing out severe punishments to his crew, becoming increasingly intolerant and paranoid. On 28 April 1789, the crew, led by sailor Fletcher Christian, took control of the ship and expelled Bligh, along with the few that remained loyal to him.
Under Christian, the crew of the Bounty tried to settle on Tubuai, south of Tahiti, but they failed due to the hostility of the locals. As discontent among the sailors rose, the ship returned to Tahiti. A few men stayed there, while the rest of the crew kept looking for a save haven. In January 1790, the Bounty arrived on Pitcairn Island. The sailors set fire to the ship and settled on the island with a few Tahitians. Over the following few years, in-fighting among the settlers, especially between Europeans and Polynesians, led to several deaths. Under the leadership of John Adams, the last surviving mutineer, peace was restored, and by the early 19th century the community was thriving.
In 1808, the American ship Topaz was the first to visit Pitcairn Island after the Bounty, and in the following decades various other ships arrived here. The island officially became a British colony in 1838 and, at the same time, the right to vote was extended to women, making Pitcairn Island one of the first territories in the world where women could vote. Henderson, Oeno, and Ducie were officially annexed by the United Kingdom in 1902, and they were grouped in a single territory with Pitcairn Island in 1938.
193 people were living on the tiny island in 1856, and they requested assistance from the British government as they struggled to survive with the few resources they had. The entire population was moved to Norfolk Island but, soon afterwards, 17 people decided to return on Pitcairn, followed by 27 more five years later. The population peaked at around 250 people in the 1930s, but then decreased as people started emigrating to Australia and New Zealand. Since the 1990s, the population of the island has remained at around 50 people.
Starting in 1999, evidence of decades of rape, assault, and sexual abuse against young girls was uncovered. This led to the conviction of nearly half of the island’s adult males in 2004, including the mayor. In July 2022, the Pitcairn Islands became one the last territories in the world to be reached by the COVID-19 pandemic. Only the islands of Tokelau reported some cases later than Pitcairn, in December 2022.
View of the northwestern coast of Pitcairn Island (Balou46, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).
Visit the Pitcairn Islands
It is extremely difficult to visit the Pitcairn Islands, but not impossible. There is no airstrip on the islands, and the only way to arrive here is by boat. However, tourists first need to reach Tahiti and then Mangareva. The Faa’a International Airport in Papeete, Tahiti, provides flights to Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and France. From there, travelers can take a flight to Totegegie Airport in Mangareva.
The dedicated vessel Silver Supporter sails from Mangareva to Pitcairn several times a year with an irregular schedule. A trip takes 32 hours, and the ship can only host up to 12 passengers at a time. With each voyage, the ship stops in Pitcairn for four days before returning to Mangareva. Alternatively, private boats are allowed to anchor in the islands, with a landing fee. A visa is not required for tourists who stay for less than 14 days. Visitors who want to stay for longer need to pay a fee and submit an application to the local government. Working or doing business in Pitcairn also requires a visa.
To visit Pitcairn, it is also important to note that bad weather conditions can delay or lenghten traveling times. It is also advised to take full medical check-ups before visiting, and be aware that there is only a small clinic on the island. Any major problem would require waiting for the next ship, as the island is out of range of any evacuation helicopter.
The climate of Pitcairn is mild, with temperatures mostly ranging between 16 °C and 26 °C. As the islands are in the Southern Hemisphere, winter is between May and October, and roads can become muddy during this time. During summer, there is a risk of fires.
View of Adamstown, the only settlement in the Pitcairn Islands (Chris Double, Flickr, CC BY 2.0).
The main attractions in Pitcairn are the remains of the Bounty in Bounty Bay and the small local museum. This museum houses various historic items, including the 18th-century Bible that was used on the Bounty. Activities on Pitcairn include walking and hiking around the island, and enjoy life with the locals. Swimming is possible but can be dangerous due to the rocky shoreline. Stargazing is also a popular activity, as the island has very little light pollution and a very dark night sky. On Pitcairn, tourists can also meet Mr Turpen, the only survivor of the five Galápagos giant tortoises brought here in 1937.
On Pitcairn, tourists can choose between a range of private accomodations, or they can live with a local family. There are also some bars and a few stores, some of which sell local products, most notably honey, which is an important source of revenue on Pitcairn. Woodcrafts and postage stamps are also popular locally-produced items.
The island has telephones and access to Wi-Fi, and electricity is provided by generators. Pitcairn uses the New Zealand dollar, and money can be exchanged or withdrawn in the local government offices. The main modes of transportation are on foot or with quad bikes. English is the official language, but the locals also speak Pitkern, a mixture of English and Tahitian. Most of the population is part of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and Saturday is considered a day of rest.
It is also possible to visit the other islands of the archipelago, sailing with a boat from Pitcairn. Henderson Island has one of the most pristine ecosystems in the world, almost unaffected by humans, and has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Birdwatching and scuba diving are possible activities on Henderson, while the sandy beaches of Oeno make it a great place for swimming and snorkeling. Ducie is instead too far from Pitcairn and thus rarely visited.