Papeete (Tahitian: Papeʻete, pronounced )(pape = water ; ʻete = bag, basket); old name: Vaiʻete)Personal communication with Michael Koch in is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the French Republic located in the Pacific Ocean. The commune of Papeʻete is located on the island of Tahiti, in the administrative subdivision of the Windward Islands, of which Papeʻete is the administrative capital.Décret n° 2005-1611 du 20 décembre 2005 pris pour l'application du statut d'autonomie de la Polynésie française , Légifrance Both the President of French Polynesia and French High Commissioner reside in Papeʻete.Kay, p. 106
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 Papeʻete,Sometimes also spelled Papeete in languages other than Tahitian. The use of the okina, which looks similar to an apostrophe, to represent the glottal stop, is promoted by the Académie Tahitienne and accepted by the territorial government (see http://www.farevanaa.pf/theme_detail.php?id=5). The ʻokina, however, is sometimes omitted. means "water from a basket"Kay, p. 102.— 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 Vaiʻete is still recognised in some areas such as the Marquesas. The urban area of Papeete had a total population of 124,274 inhabitantsThe urban area includes Papeete, Faʼaʼā, Punaʻauiʻa, Pīraʻe, Ārue & Māhina at the 2022 census, 26,654 of whom lived in the commune of Papeete proper.
Geography
The commune of Papeete is subdivided into eleven quartiers (wards):Arue – 12A Arahiri/Rimapp IDQuartier Quartier Areakm2 Pop.2017-08-17 Density/km2 Location 35A Manuhōʻē -Fareʻute - Motu uta 1.15 2,301 2,000 Coast 35B Patutoʻa 0.44 1,653 3,748 Coast 35C Taunoa 0.40 2,187 5,512 Coast 35D Fāriʻipiti 0.34 1,811 5,332 Near coast 35E Titioro 3.53 3,566 1,009 Inland 35F Tepapa 4.63 3,407 736 Inland 35G Faiere 0.87 1,933 2,213 Coast 35H Pic Rouge 3.23 1,973 611 Inland 35I Tīpaeruʻi 1.93 4,187 2,143 Coast 35J Pāʻōfaʻi 0.60 1,638 2,743 Coast 35K Māmaʻo 0.52 2,269 4,343 Near coast 35 Papeʻete 17.64 26,925 1,526
Climate Papeete features a tropical monsoon climate (Am according to the Köppen climate classification) with a wet season and dry season, bordering a tropical rainforest climate, with high temperatures and humidity year round. However, precipitation is observed even during the city's dry season. The dry season is short, covering only the months of August and September. The rest of the year is wet, with the heaviest precipitation falling in the months of December and January. Sunshine is moderately high, as most precipitation comes as thunderstorms and cyclones, and does not last for long.
History of Papeete
Before the emergence of an urban settlement, the area of the later Papeete formed part of Te Porionuʻu, one of the chiefly territorial divisions of Tahiti and the domain controlled by the lineage that became the Pōmare dynasty. The extent of settlement at the future townsite before sustained European contact is uncertain. A synthesis of the historical evidence published in the Encyclopédie de la Polynésie notes disagreement over whether Papeete existed as a distinct settlement at all, but concludes that the site had no substantial concentration of population; the advantages of its sheltered lagoon and broad, deep pass became much more important with the arrival of European sailing vessels than they had been in a society whose maritime transport was based on canoes and whose exchange was largely non-monetary. Archaeological remains nevertheless attest older Polynesian occupation within the present commune, including the petroglyph of Tipaerui and traditional marae sites and remains in the Fautaua valley. In March 1818, London Missionary Society missionary William Pascoe Crook established a station at the anchorage, which he called Wilks Harbour. When Pierre-Adolphe Lesson visited in 1823, he described the population around Crook's small chapel as sparse; although he regarded Papeete as the best anchorage on that part of Tahiti, European vessels were still using Matavai Bay and Taone in preference to it. During the 1820s European and American ships increasingly began calling at Papeete and merchants established themselves there. Its political importance increased at the same time: in 1827 the principal royal residence was transferred from Papaoa in Ārue to Papeete and the Tahitian legislative assembly met there. By November 1835, Charles Darwin described Papeete, where the queen resided, as Tahiti's capital and seat of government and noted that almost all visiting ships called there.
The establishment of the Tahitian kingdom as a French protectorate in 1842 transformed the existing royal and commercial port into the center of the French administration. Captain Armand Joseph Bruat arrived at Papeete on 4 November 1843 as governor of the Marquesas and royal commissioner and established himself there. Rather than relocate the colonial headquarters to Matavai or Port Phaëton, Bruat and naval officer Rimbaud developed the existing settlement, constructing fortifications, bridges and drainage works as well as barracks and administrative buildings; the resulting military expenditure also stimulated local commerce and crafts. During the Franco-Tahitian War the settlement consequently resembled a military encampment as much as a civilian town: the traveller Ida Pfeiffer estimated only 300–400 civilian inhabitants in 1847, while the French military establishment on Tahiti numbered roughly 1,600 men at the beginning of 1848, some stationed in outlying forts and posts. Bruat had meanwhile issued the first formal definition of the town's boundaries in October 1845; the delimited settlement lay mainly in the district of Pare, with a smaller portion extending across the Paofai boundary into Faā. Subsequent expansion incorporated additional surrounding districts, and a decree of 20 May 1890 formally created the commune of Papeete and established substantially the municipal boundaries that remain in use.
In 1902, it became necessary to move the post office of Papeete to another location. Instead of demolishing it and rebuilding it at the new site, it was lifted from the subsoil and moved as a whole on a Decauville railway.
Previously, during the construction of the Faaiere water tower with a capacity of 150,000 litres for the drinking water supply of the city of Papeete, a difference in altitude of was overcome with a light railway laid on a long inclined plane. A winch driven by a 12-horsepower Fowler or Decauville locomobile carried three narrow gauge railway trucks at a time, consuming up to of coal per day for about sixty journeys.Aubrac: Le chemin de fer en Polynésie Française. Paul Decauville mentioned in a letter to Governor Theodore Lacascade, dated 18 June 1891, an order for " of portable rail tracks and about 12,000 francs of rolling stock, payable in three years", presumably for a tramway from Papeete to Punaauia operated by hand or animals.Aubrac: Déplacement du bureau de poste de Papeete à l'aide de wagonnets utilisant une voie étroite.Matériaux locaux en Polynésie – Plusieurs chemins de fer à Papeete.
Following the outbreak of World War I, Papeete was shelled by German vessels, causing loss of life and significant damage.
The growth of the city was boosted by the decision to move the French nuclear weapon test range from Algeria, which had become independent, to the atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa, some to the east of Tahiti. This was motivated, in particular, by the construction of the Faaā International Airport, the only international airport in French Polynesia, near Papeete. In 1983, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built the Papeete Tahiti Temple here because of its large number of members in the region. On 5 September 1995 the government of Jacques Chirac conducted the first of a 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 had occurred after another French nuclear test in the same area in 1987.
Transportation The streets of the town center are very busy, and traffic can be a problem since they are very narrow. The Tahiti freeway starts close to the town center as Pōmare Boulevard, named after the Tahitian Royal Family of the 19th century. By air, passengers depart from the Faaā International Airport. Domestic interisland service is operated by Air Tahiti with international flights being operated by Air Tahiti Nui, Air France, LATAM Chile, United and other airlines. By sea, passengers can use a marine ferry service for travel to Moorea or a Bora Bora cruise line service for travel to Bora Bora.
Demographics The urban area of Papeete had a total population of 124,724 inhabitants at the 2022 census, 26,654 of whom lived in the commune of Papeete proper. The urban area of Papeete is made up of six communes. They are listed from northeast to southwest:
Māhina ʻĀrue Pīraʻe Papeete (historically the most populous commune in the urban area, and still the administrative capital) Faʼaʼā (which became in 1988 the most populous commune in the urban area) Punaauia
Historical population 1956 1962 1971 1977 1983 1988 1996 2002 2007 2012 2017 Papeete (commune) 18,089 19,903 25,342 22,967 23,496 23,555 25,553 26,222 26,017 25,769 26,926 Papeete (urban area) 28,975 35,514 65,185 77,781 93,294 103,857 115,759 127,327 131,695 133,627 136,771 Official figures from population censuses.
Average population growth of the Papeete urban area:
1956–1962: +1,107 people per year (+3.5% per year) 1962–1971: +3,597 people per year (+7.6% per year) 1971–1977: +2,025 people per year (+2.9% per year) 1977–1983: +2,400 people per year (+2.9% per year) 1983–1988: +2,158 people per year (+2.2% per year) 1988–1996: +1,489 people per year (+1.4% per year) 1996–2002: +1,873 people per year (+1.6% per year) 2002–2007: +913 people per year (+0.7% per year) 2007–2012: +386 people per year (+0.3% per year) 2012–2017: +631 people per year (+0.5% per year)
Migrations The places of birth of the 136,771 residents in the Papeete urban area at the 2017 census were the following (2007 census in parentheses):
72.5% were born in Tahiti (up from 68.4% at the 2007 census) 11.3% in Metropolitan France (down from 12.8% at the 2007 census) 6.2% in the Society Islands (other than Tahiti) (down from 6.8% at the 2007 census) 2.9% in the Tuamotu-Gambier (down from 3.6% at the 2007 census) 1.9% in the Marquesas Islands (down from 2.1% at the 2007 census) 1.6% in the Austral Islands (down from 2.0% at the 2007 census) 1.3% in the overseas departments and territories of France other than French Polynesia (0.9% in New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna; 0.4% in the other overseas departments and collectivities) (down from 1.6% at the 2007 census) 0.6% in Southeast Asia and East Asia (down from 0.7% at the 2007 census) 0.4% in North Africa (most of them Pieds-Noirs) (down from 0.5% at the 2007 census) 1.3% in other foreign countries (down from 1.5% at the 2007 census)
Languages At the 2017 census, 98.4% of the population in the urban area of Papeete whose age was 15 years and older reported that they could speak French (up from 98.2% at the 2007 census). 96.7% reported that they could also read and write it (up from 96.5% at the 2007 census). Only 0.7% of the population whose age was 15 years and older had no knowledge of French (down from 1.2% at the 2007 census).