Raiatea

Also known as Ulietea

Raiātea or Raiatea (Tahitian: Raiātea) is the second largest of the Society Islands, after Tahiti, in French Polynesia, in the South Pacific Ocean. The island is widely regarded as the "centre" of the eastern islands in ancient Polynesia and it is likely that the organised migrations to the Hawaiian Islands, and other parts of East Polynesia, started at Raiātea.

Key facts

Islands.area_km2: 167.7
Islands.name: Raiatea
Islands.image_name: borabora Tahaa Raiatea.jpg
Islands.image_caption: The islands of Bora Bora (top) Tahaa (middle) and Raiatea (bottom). Tahaa and Raiatea share the same lagoon.
Islands.image_size: 200px
Islands.map_image: Karta FP Societe isl.PNG
Islands.native_name: Raiātea
Islands.native_name_link: Tahitian language
Islands.location: Pacific Ocean
Islands.archipelago: Society Islands
Islands.major_islands: Raiatea
Islands.highest_mount: Mount Tefatua
Islands.elevation_m: 1,017
Islands.country: France
Islands.country_admin_divisions_title: Overseas collectivity
Islands.country_admin_divisions: French Polynesia
Islands.country_capital_and_largest_city: Uturoa
Islands.country_largest_city_population: 3,778

via Wikipedia infobox

~21 min read

Encyclopedic overview

15 sections

Contents

Etymology
History
Prehistory
European colonization
Geography
Climate
Flora
Fauna
Administration
Economy
Tourism
Places of interest
Infrastructure
See also
References

A traditional name for the island is Havai'i, homeland of the Māori people. Situated on the southeast coast is the historical Taputapuatea marae, which was established by 1000 CE. The site was the political and religious center of eastern Polynesia for several centuries, and was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2017 for its historical significance.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Raiatea” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.