Papeete, Tahiti

Papeete ("water from a basket", see footnote for variant spelling)
(pronounced [papeʔete]) is the capital of French Polynesia, an overseas
territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The commune (municipality) of
Papeete is located on the island of Tahiti, in the administrative
subdivision of the Windward Islands, of which Papeete is the administrative
capital. The French High Commissioner also resides in Papeete. It is the
primary center of Tahitian and French Polynesian public and private
governmental, commercial, industrial and financial services, the hub of
French Polynesian tourism and a commonly used Port of call. The Windward
Islands are themselves part of the Society Islands.

The urban area of Papeete had a total population of 131,695 inhabitants at
the August 2007 census, 26,017 of whom lived in the commune of Papeete
proper.

History

The area that now constitutes Papeete was first settled by the British
missionary William Crook of the London Missionary Society in 1818.[1] Queen
Pōmare IV moved her court to Papeete and made it her capital in the late
1820s, and the town grew into a major regional shipping and transportation
center. Papeete was retained as Tahiti's capital after France took control
of the Tahitian Islands and made them a protectorate in 1842. Herman
Melville was imprisoned in Papeete in 1842; his experiences there became the
basis for the novel Omoo. Paul Gauguin journeyed to and toured Papeete in
1891 and, except for a two-year period in 1893–1895, never returned to
France. Robert Louis Stevenson also spent time in Papeete in 1888. Half of
Papeete was destroyed by a major fire in 1884, which then prohibited the use
of native building materials. A major cyclone caused extensive damage to the
city in 1906, and a French naval vessel was sunk in the harbor in October
1914 by two German men-of war, which then bombarded Papeete.

The growth of the city was boosted by the decision to move the nuclear
weapon test range from Algeria to the atolls of Mururoa and Fangataufa, some
1,500 km (930 mi) at the east of Tahiti; this originated in particular in
the construction of the Faa'a airport next to Pape'ete, the only
international airport in French Polynesia. In 1983, The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints built the Papeete Tahiti Temple here because of
the large number of members in the region. On September 5, 1995 the
government of Jacques Chirac conducted the first of the last series of
nuclear test detonations off the shores of Moruroa. A resulting riot in
Papeete lasted for two days and damaged the international airport, injured
40 people, and scared away tourism for some time. (Similar rioting occurred
after another French nuclear test in the same area in 1987).

Demographics

The urban area of Papeete had a total population of 131,695 inhabitants at
the August 2007 census, 26,017 of whom lived in the commune of Papeete
proper. The urban area of Papeete is made up of 7 communes:

* Faaa (which became in 1988 the most populous commune in the urban
area)
* Papeete (historically the most populous commune in the urban area, and
still the administrative capital)
* Punaauia
* Pirae
* Mahina
* Paea
* Arue

Construction has boomed since the 1960s due to an influx of 35,000
immigrants (20,000 from France and 15,000 from French Polynesia's outer
islands) in response to an improved infrastructure and France's nuclear
testing program.

Arrival and departure

Traveling tourists arrive and depart Papeete via cruise ship at Papeete
Harbor or domestic airline at Faa'a International Airport, which was
completed and opened in 1962.

Transportation

Primary roads consist of the 3-lane "Boulevard Pomare" along the city's
harbor front which extends into a 4-lane highway.

www.wikipedia.com/papeete