| Info about Pitcairn Islands | |
Pitcairn Island was discovered in 1767 by the British and settled in 1790 by the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian companions. Pitcairn was the first Pacific island to become a British colony (in 1838) and today remains the last vestige of that empire in the South Pacific. Outmigration, primarily to New Zealand, has thinned the population from a peak of 233 in 1937 to less than 50 today.
| | Languages | | English (official), Pitkern (mixture of an 18th century English dialect and a Tahitian dialect) | | Ethnic division | | descendants of the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian wives | | HIV/AIDS prevalence rate | | NA | | Climate info | | tropical; hot and humid; modified by southeast trade winds; rainy season (November to March) | | Natural Resources | | miro trees (used for handicrafts), fish
note: manganese, iron, copper, gold, silver, and zinc have been discovered offshore | | Economic data | | The inhabitants of this tiny isolated economy exist on fishing, subsistence farming, handicrafts, and postage stamps. The fertile soil of the valleys produces a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, including citrus, sugarcane, watermelons, bananas, yams, and beans. Bartering is an important part of the economy. The major sources of revenue are the sale of postage stamps to collectors and the sale of handicrafts to passing ships. In October 2004, more than one-quarter of Pitcairn's small labor force was arrested, putting the economy in a bind, since their services were required as lighter crew to load or unload passing ships. | | Environmental issues | | deforestation (only a small portion of the original forest remains because of burning and clearing for settlement) |
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