View source for Rapa Iti

{{short description|Commune in French Polynesia, France}}
{{Infobox Islands
| name             = Rapa Iti
| image_name       = RapaISS004-E-12980b.PNG
| image_caption    = [[NASA]] picture of Rapa
| map              = French Polynesia
| map_caption      = Rapa Iti is located in French Polynesia
| native_name      =
| native_name_link =
| nickname         =
| location         = [[Pacific Ocean]]
| coordinates      = {{Coord|27|36|S|144|20|W|type:isle_region:FR-PF|display=inline}}
| archipelago      = [[Austral Islands|Australes]]
| total_islands    =
| major_islands    =
| area_km2         = 40.5
| area_footnotes   =
| length_km        =
| width_km         =
| highest_mount    = Mount Perahu
| elevation_m      = 650
| country          = France
| country_admin_divisions_title     = [[Overseas collectivity]]
| country_admin_divisions           = [[French Polynesia]]
| country_admin_divisions_title_2   = [[Communes of France|Commune]]
| country_admin_divisions_2         = Rapa Iti
| population       = 451<ref name=pop2022/>
| population_as_of = 2022
| density_km2      =
| ethnic_groups    =
| additional_info  =
}}
{{Infobox French commune
|name                   = Rapa
|commune status         = [[Communes of France|Commune]]
|map                    = Austral isl Rapa Iti.PNG
|image flag             = Flag of Rapa.svg
|image flag size        =
|administrative subdivision = [[Austral Islands]]
|utc offset             = −10:00
|INSEE                  = 98741
|postal code            = 98751
|mayor                  = Tuanainai Narii<ref>{{cite web|title=Répertoire national des élus: les maires|url=https://www.data.gouv.fr/fr/datasets/r/2876a346-d50c-4911-934e-19ee07b0e503|publisher=data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises|date=13 September 2022|language=fr}}</ref>
|term                   = 2020&ndash;2026
|coordinates            = {{coord|-27.60|-144.33|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation m            =
|elevation min m        = 0
|elevation max m        = 650
|area km2               = 40.54
|population             = 451
|population date        = 2022
|population footnotes   = <ref name=pop2022>{{cite web|url=https://www.ispf.pf/content//uploads/RP_2022_Decret_n_2022_1592_du_20_decembre_2022_authentifiant_les_resultats_du_recensement_de_la_population_2022_JOPF_778cd9be0e.pdf|title= Les résultats du recensement de la population 2022 de Polynésie française|language=fr|trans-title=Results of the 2022 population census of French Polynesia|publisher=Institut de la statistique de la Polynésie française|date=January 2023}}</ref>
}}
'''Rapa''', also called '''Rapa Iti''', or "Little Rapa", to distinguish it from [[Easter Island]], whose Polynesian name is Rapa Nui, is the largest and only inhabited island of the [[Bass Islands (French Polynesia)|Bass Islands]] in [[French Polynesia]].  An older name for the island is '''Oparo'''.<ref>[http://www.tahitiguide.com/@en-us/article.asp?article_id=3/42/297 Tahiti guide]</ref> The total land area including offshore islets is {{convert|40.5|km2|abbr=on}}.<ref name=envir>[http://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/assets/2016/01/environnementmarindesilesaustrales.pdf Environnement marin des îles Australes]</ref>{{rp|205}} As of the 2022 census, Rapa had a population of 451.<ref name="pop2022"/> The island's highest point is at {{convert|650|m}} elevation at Mont Perahu.<ref name=envir/>{{rp|243}} Its main town is [[Ahurei|Ahuréi]]. The inhabitants of Rapa Iti speak their own Polynesian language called the [[Rapa language]].
==Geography==
Rapa Iti is located at {{Coord|27|35|00|S|144|20|00|W|}}. It is shaped roughly like a [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] final [[Sigma (letter)|sigma]] (ς), with a well-protected central bay, surrounded by a ring of relatively high mountains.  The whole island appears to be the peak of a sinking [[volcano]], with the bay as well as the [[caldera]]. The area of the main island is 38.5&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>. Little Rapa Tauturau is an offshore island.
Its main town, Ahuréi (or Ha'uréi), lies on the southern shore of that bay, which is called the Baie d'Ahuréi. A smaller village, 'Area, is located on the northern shore of the bay.  The people are Polynesian. Former times' warfare is indicated by 28 extant ridgetop forts. Today Rapa is home to the [[Tahitian Choir]], in which a third of the island's population sing traditional songs.
Although sometimes considered part of the [[Austral Islands]], Rapa Iti and the Bass Islands have a different geological, linguistic and cultural history.<ref>F. Allan Hanson, ''Rapan Lifeways'' (1970)</ref>
==History==
Rapa Iti was first settled by [[Polynesians]], most likely in the 12th century.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p204851/pdf/ch14.pdf |title=The prehistory of Rapa Island |last1=Anderson |first1=Atholl |last2=Kennett |first2=Douglas J. |last3=Conte |first3=Eric |access-date=19 March 2022}}</ref> Their Polynesian dialect developed into what is today the [[Rapa language]] over the centuries.<ref>[http://www.cdnn.info/news/science/sc060825.html CDNN] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060829172507/http://www.cdnn.info/news/science/sc060825.html |date=August 29, 2006 }}</ref> It is believed that the depletion of natural resources on the island resulted in warfare, and the inhabitants lived in up to 14 fortified settlements (''pa'' or ''[[Pare (fort)|pare]]'', a type of fort; compare the [[Māori people|Māori]] ''[[pā]]'') on peaks and clifftops.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kennett |first1=Douglas |last2=Anderson |first2=Atholl |last3=Prebble |first3=Matthew |last4=Conte |first4=Eric |last5=Southon |first5=John |title=Prehistoric human impacts on Rapa, French Polynesia |journal=Antiquity |issue=308 |year=2006 |volume=80 |pages=340–354 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00093662 |s2cid=20236158 }}</ref> It is considered that the oldest of these is Morongo Uta, which was developed {{circa|1450–1550 AD}}.
The first European to visit Rapa Iti was [[George Vancouver]] on 22 December 1791;<ref name=Richards>{{cite journal |last1=Richards |first1=Rhys  |title=The Earliest Foreign Visitors and Their Massive Depopulation of Rapa-iti from 1824 to 1830 |journal=[[Journal de la Société des Océanistes]] |url=http://jso.revues.org/67?file=1 }}</ref> he named the island Oparo. Contact with Europeans brought liquor and disease, and between 1824 and 1830 over three quarters of the natives died.<ref name=Richards/> Peruvian slavers raided the island as well.<ref name=Brash>{{cite book |title=Tahiti and French Polynesia |last=Brash |first=Celeste |author2=Jean-Bernard Carillet  |year=2009 |publisher=Lonely Planet |isbn=978-1741043167 |pages=236–237 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t8Uj6i5oDcgC&dq=Rapa+Iti+France&pg=PA237 |access-date=November 6, 2012}}</ref> When a handful of their victims were returned to the island, they brought with them [[smallpox]], which caused an epidemic.<ref name=Brash/>  In 1826, there were almost 2000 inhabitants; forty years later, there were fewer than 120.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=Warwick |year=2000 |title=Infectious Diseases: Colonising the Pacific? (review) |journal=Bulletin of the History of Medicine |volume=74 |issue=3 |page=617 |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/bulletin_of_the_history_of_medicine/v074/74.3anderson.pdf |doi= 10.1353/bhm.2000.0103|s2cid=72696414 }}</ref>
The independent island kingdom was declared a French protectorate in 1867. The British established a coaling station on the island, which prompted France to formally annex it on 6 March 1881. Subsequently, the native monarchy was abolished and the last queen, the [[Daughter of Parima]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hanson |first=F. Allan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=twJzAAAAMAAJ&q=%22reine+de+Rapa%22 |page=30 |title=Rapa: une île polynésienne hier et aujourd'hui |date=1973 |publisher=Société des océanistes |language=fr}}</ref> was deposed on 18 June 1887.
[[Thor Heyerdahl]], notably, made excavations in Morongo Uta, seeking links between Rapa Iti and [[Rapa Nui]] (Easter Island).
==Climate==
Rapa Iti has [[tropical rainforest climate]] (''Af'' in the [[Köppen climate classification]], ''Arab'' in the [[Trewartha climate classification]]), bordering on a very-mild winter [[humid subtropical climate]] (''Cfa'' in the [[Köppen climate classification]], ''Cfal'' in the [[Trewartha climate classification]]). Despite being situated south of the Tropic of Capricorn, the remote location in the middle of a tropical ocean enables the climate to be moderated in all seasons. Summers are hot and muggy, and cyclones are rarer, as the islands are located near the [[Horse latitudes|Horse Latitudes]] at thirty degrees south, despite the exposed location makes the island very windy, tempering the summer weather. Very hot weather is very rare, with the highest temperature recorded was 31.6 °C (88.9 °F) in March. Winters are mild and very stormy, due to the isolated and exposed location of Rapa Iti. Precipitation is abundant in all seasons, and sunshine is uncommon every month of the year. The cool winters and strong winds prohibit ultra tropical fruits such as coconuts to thrive, as it has dropped to 8.5 °C (47.3 °F) in September. In addition, the lack of continental influence promotes the vast seasonal lag, as March is the second-warmest month of the year, while September is the second-coldest.
{{Weather box
| width = auto
| location = Rapa, French Polynesia (1991-2020 normals, extremes 1951-present)
| metric first = y
| single line = y
| Jan high C = 25.7
| Feb high C = 26.5
| Mar high C = 26.2
| Apr high C = 24.5
| May high C = 23.0
| Jun high C = 21.6
| Jul high C = 20.8
| Aug high C = 20.5
| Sep high C = 20.7
| Oct high C = 21.5
| Nov high C = 23.0
| Dec high C = 24.2
| year high C = 23.2
| Jan mean C = 23.7
| Feb mean C = 24.5
| Mar mean C = 24.0
| Apr mean C = 22.4
| May mean C = 20.8
| Jun mean C = 19.3
| Jul mean C = 18.5
| Aug mean C = 18.2
| Sep mean C = 18.4
| Oct mean C = 19.3
| Nov mean C = 20.8
| Dec mean C = 22.2
| year mean C = 21.0
| Jan low C = 21.7
| Feb low C = 22.4
| Mar low C = 21.8
| Apr low C = 20.2
| May low C = 18.6
| Jun low C = 17.1
| Jul low C = 16.3
| Aug low C = 15.9
| Sep low C = 16.1
| Oct low C = 17.0
| Nov low C = 18.6
| Dec low C = 20.1
| year low C = 18.8
| Jan record high C = 31.0
| Feb record high C = 30.9
| Mar record high C = 31.6
| Apr record high C = 30.3
| May record high C = 28.1
| Jun record high C = 26.3
| Jul record high C = 25.5
| Aug record high C = 25.0
| Sep record high C = 26.4
| Oct record high C = 26.4
| Nov record high C = 28.9
| Dec record high C = 30.1
| Jan record low C = 12.2
| Feb record low C = 15.6
| Mar record low C = 15.2
| Apr record low C = 13.5
| May record low C = 10.1
| Jun record low C = 10.2
| Jul record low C = 9.8
| Aug record low C = 8.9
| Sep record low C = 8.5
| Oct record low C = 10.5
| Nov record low C = 12.0
| Dec record low C = 13.2
| Jan precipitation mm = 227.2
| Feb precipitation mm = 204.9
| Mar precipitation mm = 256.3
| Apr precipitation mm = 234.8
| May precipitation mm = 172.2
| Jun precipitation mm = 215.4
| Jul precipitation mm = 237.5
| Aug precipitation mm = 209.0
| Sep precipitation mm = 148.1
| Oct precipitation mm = 177.8
| Nov precipitation mm = 143.1
| Dec precipitation mm = 209.6
| precipitation colour = green
| year precipitation mm = 2435.9
| unit precipitation days = 1 mm
| Jan precipitation days = 13.4
| Feb precipitation days = 12.9
| Mar precipitation days = 15.6
| Apr precipitation days = 14.8
| May precipitation days = 14.2
| Jun precipitation days = 15.7
| Jul precipitation days = 15.3
| Aug precipitation days = 15.0
| Sep precipitation days = 12.7
| Oct precipitation days = 12.0
| Nov precipitation days = 10.5
| Dec precipitation days = 13.2
| year precipitation days = 165.3
| Jan sun = 131.0
| Feb sun = 133.8
| Mar sun = 130.9
| Apr sun = 115.0
| May sun = 102.8
| Jun sun = 93.4
| Jul sun = 101.1
| Aug sun = 120.6
| Sep sun = 123.4
| Oct sun = 133.7
| Nov sun = 134.3
| Dec sun = 125.0
| year sun = 1444.9
| source 1 = Meteo France<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://donneespubliques.meteofrance.fr/FichesClim/FICHECLIM_98741001.pdf
| title = Fiche Climatologique
| publisher = Meteo France
| accessdate = February 2, 2021
}}</ref>
}}
==Environment==
The Manatau French Polynesian Reserve is a special French Polynesian Reserve to protect the animals and ridgetop forts of an area of southern Rapa. It is located near South Ahuréi.
The island is home to the [[endemism|endemic]] and [[critically endangered]] [[Rapa fruit dove]] which is threatened by habitat loss, predation by [[feral cat]]s and hunting. Its population was estimated in 2017 at 160 individual birds. The critically endangered [[Rapa shearwater]] is endemic to surrounding islets. Other birds include the least concern [[Murphy's petrel]], which nest there in small numbers, and the near threatened [[bristle-thighed curlew]] which is a non-breeding visitor while migrating.  Because of its significance for these species the island has been identified as an [[Important Bird Area]] by [[BirdLife International]].<ref name=bli>{{cite web |url= http://www.birdlife.org |title= Rapa|access-date=2012-12-27 |work= BirdLife data zone: Important Bird Areas |publisher= BirdLife International |year= 2012}}</ref>
==Administration==
The commune of '''Rapa''' consists of the island of Rapa Iti and the four uninhabited [[Marotiri (Austral Islands)|Marotiri]] rocks.
==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{cite book |author= F. Allan Hanson |title= Rapa: une île polynésienne hier et aujourd'hui |year= 1973 |publisher= [[Société des Océanistes]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=twJzAAAAMAAJ}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Rapa Iti}}
*[http://www.presidence.pf/index.php?919 Information from website of the government of French Polynesia] (article not found)
*[http://www.cdnn.info/news/science/sc060825.html Article about a scientific study on the social history and development of Rapa Iti society] (article not found)
{{Austral Islands}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Rapa Iti| ]]
[[Category:Islands of the Austral Islands]]
[[Category:Communes of French Polynesia]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of French Polynesia]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of Oceania]]