Society Islands

Society Islands
Native name:
Îles de la Société (French); Tōtaiete mā (Tahitian)
Society Islands is located in Pacific Ocean
Society Islands
Society Islands
Society Islands is located in French Polynesia
Society Islands
Society Islands
Geography
LocationPacific Ocean
Coordinates17°32′S 149°50′W / 17.533°S 149.833°W / -17.533; -149.833
ArchipelagoPolynesia
Total islands14
Major islandsTahiti, Moorea, Raiatea, Bora Bora, Huahine
Area1,590 km2 (610 sq mi)
Highest elevation2,241 m (7352 ft)
Highest pointMont Orohena
Administration
France
CollectivityFrench Polynesia
Largest settlementFa'a'ā (pop. 29,828)
Demographics
Population207,333[1] (2017)
Pop. density148/km2 (383/sq mi)

The Society Islands (French: Îles de la Société [il də la sɔsjete],[2][3] officially Archipel de la Société [aʁʃipɛl də la sɔsjete];[4][5] Tahitian: Tōtaiete mā)[6] are an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean that includes the major islands of Tahiti, Moʻorea, Raiatea, Bora Bora and Huahine. Politically, they are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the French Republic. Geographically, they form part of Polynesia.

The archipelago is believed to have been named by Captain James Cook during his first voyage in 1769, supposedly in honour of the Royal Society, the sponsor of the first British scientific survey of the islands; however, Cook wrote in his journal that he called the islands Society "as they lay contiguous to one another".[7]

  1. ^ "Population". Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française (in French). Archived from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  2. ^ Castillo, Emmanuel Drake del (1893). Flore de la Polynésie française : îles de la société, Marquise, Pomotou, Gambier, Wallis (in French). Masson.
  3. ^ Robineau, Claude (1984). Tradition et modernité aux îles de la Société : Les racines (in French). IRD Editions. ISBN 978-2-7099-0687-6.
  4. ^ Deschamps, Emmanuel; Deschamps, Aiu (2007). L'archipel de la Société : Tahiti et ses îles (in French). Éditions Le Motu. ISBN 978-2-87923-225-6.
  5. ^ Bora Bora : Polynésie Francaise ; Archipel de la Société ; Îles sous le Vent (in French). SU. 2005.
  6. ^ Moore, Peter (2019-05-14). Endeavour: The Ship That Changed the World. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-71551-9.
  7. ^ Horwitz, Tony. Oct. 2003, Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before, Bloomsbury, ISBN 0-7475-6455-8