Tahitian (autonym: reo Tahiti, pronounced [ˈreo tahiti], part of reo Māʼohi, [ˈreo ˈmaːʔohi], languages of French Polynesia) is a Polynesian language, spoken mainly on the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It belongs to the Eastern Polynesian group.
As Tahitian had no written tradition before the arrival of the Western colonists, the spoken language was first transcribed by missionaries of the London Missionary Society in the early 19th century.
French Polynesia (/ˌpɒlɪˈniːʒə/ POL-ih-NEE-zhə; French: Polynésie française [pɔlinezi fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ; Tahitian: Pōrīnetia farāni) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) in the South Pacific Ocean. French Polynesia is associated with the European Union as an overseas country and territory (OCT). The total land area of French Polynesia is 3,521 square kilometres (1,359 sq mi), with a population of 282,596 as of September 2025 of which at least 205,000 live in the Society Islands and the remaining population lives in the rest of the archipelago.
French Polynesia is divided into five island groups: the Austral Islands; the Gambier Islands; the Marquesas Islands; the Society Islands (comprising the Leeward and Windward Islands); and the Tuamotus. Among its 121 islands and atolls, 75 were inhabited at the 2017 census. Tahiti, which is in the Society Islands group, is the most populous island, being home to nearly 69% of the population of French Polynesia as of 2017. Papeete, located on Tahiti, is the capital of French Polynesia. Although not an integral part of its territory, Clipperton Island was administered from French Polynesia until 2007.
Māori (Māori: [ˈmaːɔɾi] ; endonym: te reo Māori [tɛ ɾɛɔ ˈmaːɔɾi], 'the Māori language', also shortened to te reo) is an Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost member of the Austronesian language family, it is related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and Tahitian. The Māori Language Act 1987 gave the language recognition as one of New Zealand's official languages. There are regional dialects of the Māori language.Prior to contact with Europeans, Māori lacked a written language or script. Written Māori now uses the Latin script, which was adopted and the spelling standardised by Northern Māori in collaboration with English Protestant clergy in the 19th century.
In the second half of the 19th century, European children in rural areas spoke Māori with Māori children. It was common for prominent parents of these children, such as government officials, to use Māori in the community. Māori declined due to the increase of the European population and government-imposed educational policies; by the early 20th century its use was banned in school playgrounds and classrooms across the country. The number of speakers fell sharply after 1945, but a Māori language revival movement began in the late 20th century and slowed the decline. The Māori protest movement and the Māori renaissance of the 1970s caused greater social awareness of and support for the language.
Tahiti (English: /təˈhiːti/ ; Tahitian [taˈhiti], [ˈthaiti]; French: [ta.iˈti]) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is the North Island of New Zealand. The island was formed from volcanic activity in two overlapping parts, Tahiti Nui (bigger, northwestern part) and Tahiti Iti (smaller, southeastern part); it is high and mountainous with surrounding coral reefs. Its population was 189,517 in 2017, making it by far the most populous island in French Polynesia and accounting for 68.7% of its total population; the 2022 Census recorded a population of 191,779.
Tahiti is the economic, cultural, and political centre of French Polynesia. The capital of French Polynesia, Papeʻete, is located on the northwest coast of Tahiti. The only international airport in the region, Faʻaʻā International Airport, is on Tahiti near Papeʻete. Tahiti was originally settled by Polynesians between 900 and 1100 CE. They represent about 70% of the island's population, with the rest made up of Europeans, Chinese and those of mixed heritage. The island was part of the Kingdom of Tahiti until its annexation by France in 1880, when it was proclaimed a colony of France, and the inhabitants became French citizens. French is the sole official language, although the Tahitian language (Reo Tahiti) is also widely spoken.
The Polynesian languages form a genealogical group of languages, itself part of the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family.
There are 38 Polynesian languages, representing 7 percent of the 522 Oceanic languages, and 3 percent of the Austronesian family. While half of them are spoken in geographical Polynesia (the Polynesian triangle), the other half – known as Polynesian outliers – are spoken in other parts of the Pacific: from Micronesia to atolls scattered in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands or Vanuatu. The most prominent Polynesian languages, by number of speakers, are Samoan, Tongan, Tahitian, Māori and Hawaiian.
The Society Islands (French: Îles de la Société [il də la sɔsjete], officially Archipel de la Société [aʁʃipɛl də la sɔsjete]; Tahitian: Tōtaiete mā) are an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean that includes the major islands of Tahiti, Moʻorea, Raiatea, Bora Bora and Huahine. Politically, the islands are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the French Republic. Geographically, they form part of Polynesia.
The Austral Islands (French: Îles Australes, officially Archipel des Australes; Tahitian: Tuha'a Pae) are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia, an overseas country of the French Republic in the South Pacific. Geographically, they consist of two separate archipelagos, namely in the northwest the Tupua'i islands (French: Îles Tubuaï) consisting of the Îles Maria, Rimatara, Rūrutu, Tupua'i Island proper and Ra'ivāvae, and in the southeast the Bass Islands (French: Îles basses) composed of the main island of Rapa Iti and the small Marotiri (also known as Bass Rocks or Îlots de Bass). Inhabitants of the islands are known for their pandanus fiber weaving skills. The islands of Maria and Marotiri are not suitable for sustained habitation. Several of the islands have uninhabited islets or rocks off their coastlines. Austral Islands' population is 6,965 on almost 150 km (58 sq mi). The capital of the Austral Islands administrative subdivision is Tupua'i.
The Leeward Islands (French: îles Sous-le-Vent, pronounced [il suləvɑ̃], lit. 'Under-the-Wind Islands'; Tahitian: Fenua Raro Mata’i) are the western part of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France, in the South Pacific Ocean. They lie south of the Line Islands (part of Kiribati), east of the Cooks and north of the Austral Islands (also part of French Polynesia). Their area is around 404 km (156 sq mi) and their population is over 36,000.
Papeete (Tahitian: Papeʻetē, pronounced [pa.pe.ʔe.te]; old name: Vaiʻetē) is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the French Republic located in the Pacific Ocean. The commune of Papeʻetē is located on the island of Tahiti, in the administrative subdivision of the Windward Islands, of which Papeʻetē is the administrative capital. Both the President of French Polynesia and French High Commissioner reside in Papeʻetē.
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 name Papeʻetē, means "water from a basket"— this was an effect of a naming taboo during Pōmare I's reign where the Tahitian contemporary word for water vai was substituted with pape, the old name Vaiʻetē is still recognised in some areas such as the Marquesas. The urban area of Papeʻetē had a total population of 124,724 inhabitants at the 2022 census, 26,654 of whom lived in the commune of Papeʻetē proper.
Moʼorea (English: /ˌmoʊ.oʊˈreɪ.ɑː/ or /ˈmoʊ.oʊreɪ/; Tahitian: Moʼoreʼa, [moʔore(ʔ)a]), also spelled Moorea, is a volcanic island in the French Polynesia, lying 17 kilometres (11 mi) northwest of Tahiti. Moʼorea and Tahiti are the largest members of the Windward Islands, a group that is part of the larger Society Islands archipelago.
Moʼoreʼa means 'yellow lizard' in Tahitian: Moʼo = lizard; Reʼa (from reʼareʼa) = yellow. An older name for the island is ʼAimeho, sometimes spelled ʼAimeo or ʼEimeo (among other spellings that were used by early visitors before Tahitian spelling was standardized). Early Western colonists and voyagers also referred to Moʼorea as York Island or Santo Domingo.