Our Series on Remote Islands takes us to Pitcairn, the smallest autonomous territory on the planet, with a population of less than 100.
Located over 1000 nautical miles from Tahiti and 300nm from the nearest populated island, Mangareva in the Gambier Islands, Pitcairn was settled by Polynesians for a few centuries but that population had been extinct when Europeans first sighted it in the 1600s.
In 1790, nine mutineers on the Bounty settled on the island with 17 people from Tahiti, with a firm intention to stay there, as indicated by the burning and sinking of their ship. After a quarter century of total isolation, contact was made with British sailors and Britain granted Pitcairn the status of British Colony. Overpopulation on an island with very scarce resources led to the settlers to ask to be relocated, and the entire population was sent to Norfolk Island in 1856, a successful relocation since the population of Norfolk in the twenty first century is mostly of Pitcairn Islanders origin. About a quarter of the population chose to return to Pitcairn after a few years, and the island has had a continuous population since then, peaking at close to 200, but falling down to a few dozens since many young Islanders choose to emigrate to Australia or New Zealand.
Pitcairn
