Pitcairn Islanders

Pitcairn Islanders
Pitkern Ailena
Total population
800-1,000 worldwide[1]
Regions with significant populations
 Pitcairn Islands47 (2021)[2]
 Norfolk Island484 (2016)[3]
 Australia262 (2016)[4]
 New Zealand48 (2018 birthplace)[5][6]
 United Kingdom30
Languages
Religion
Seventh-day Adventist Church
Related ethnic groups

Pitcairn Islanders, also referred to as Pitkerners and Pitcairnese, are the native inhabitants of the Pitcairn Islands, a British Overseas Territory including people whose families were previously inhabitants and maintaining cultural connections. Most Pitcairn Islanders are descendants of the Bounty mutineers and Tahitians.

The mainstream Pitcairn culture is a mixture of British (specifically English, Manx and Scottish) and Polynesian (specifically Tahitian) cultures derived from the traditions of the settlers that landed in 1790, plus a few that settled afterwards.[7][8] As of 2021, there are a total of 47 people inhabiting the island.[1][9]

There is also a Pitcairnese diaspora, particularly in Norfolk Island, New Zealand and mainland Australia. Fearing overcrowding, in 1856 all 194 Pitkerners immigrated to Norfolk Island aboard the Morayshire (including a baby born en route) but 16 of them returned to Pitcairn on the Mary Ann in 1858, followed by a further four families in 1864.[10]

  1. ^ a b "Official Pitcairn Immigration and Repopulation Web Site Community". Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Pitcairn Islands Tourism | Come Explore... The Legendary Pitcairn Islands". Visitpitcairn.pn. Archived from the original on 19 September 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  3. ^ 2016 Census QuickStats – Norfolk Island – Ancestry, top responses
  4. ^ Census and Census Data, Australia - 2016 - Understanding ancestry in the Norfolk Island population
  5. ^ "2018 New Zealand census". 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  6. ^ Born in Cook Islands
  7. ^ "The People of Pitcairn Island". Government of the Pitcairn Islands. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Pitcairn's History". Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Pitcairn Islands Tourism Come Explore... The Legendary Pitcairn Islands". Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  10. ^ www.government.pn Pitcairn Island Diaspora Survey (2014)