The renowned island of Tahiti is but one pearl in French Polynesia’s gleaming strand of 35 islands and 83 atolls, scattered like jewels halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand over an expanse of ocean roughly the size of Europe. Tahiti is home to French Polynesia’s only city and capital, Papeʻete. Tahiti belongs to the Society Islands, one of five archipelagos that make up this vast territory, the others inlcude the Marquesas, the Australs, the Gambiers and the Tuamotus.
