- Raiatea
Somewhat smaller than
Tahiti , Raiatea is the second largest of theSociety Islands inFrench Polynesia . The proper spelling of the name, rarely used though, in theTahitian language is Ra’iatea, meaning "bright sky"; Ulieta is an obsoletetranscription commonly used in the 19th century. The chief town on Raiatea isUturoa , administrative center for the Leeward Islands (French "Îles Sous-le-vent"). The islands of Raiatea andTahaa are both enclosed by the samecoral reef , and may once have been a single island.Raiatea is both the largest and most populated island in the Leeward Islands, with a land area of 167.7 km² (64.7 sq. miles) and a total population of 12,024 inhabitants at the August 2007 census.fr icon cite web| url=http://www.ispf.pf/(k1aciwf4z0fyap45ghzhgm55)/stat/demo/rp2007/pdfs/poplegales2007.pdf| title=Recensement de la population 2007| author=Institut Statistique de Polynésie Française (ISPF)|format=PDF|accessdate=2007-12-02] The population density is 72 inhabitants per km².
Ra'iatea is widely regarded as the 'center' of Polynesia and it is likely that the organised migrations to Hawaii, Aoteroa (New Zealand) and other parts of East Polynesia started at Ra'iatea. A traditional name for the island is Havai'i fanau fenua (Hawai'i birther of land).
Administratively speaking, the island of Raiatea is divided in three communes (municipalities):
*
Uturoa
*Taputapuatea
*Tumaraa These three communes are inside the administrative subdivision of the Leeward Islands.
ee also
*
List of volcanoes in French Polynesia References
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